TITLE: "Sentient"
AUTHOR: Tess
RATING: T

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Just playing with them and promise to put everything back when I'm done.


SUMMARY: An encounter with a strange object leaves a lasting impression on Kensi. Post season six. Kensi and Deeks as a couple. AU/semi-crossover/weird.


1. Sentient: adjective, [sen·tient \ˈsen(t)-sh(ē-)ənt, ˈsen-tē-ənt\]
a. responsive to or conscious of impressions.
b. aware.


The arms deal was hopefully going to happen on the big screen in Ops. Callen and Sam were meeting with the buyers in a warehouse on La Tijera, just off Westchester Parkway. The buyers were led by David Hillis, a former client of Ray Martindale who did business with Deeks as Max Gentry back in the day. Deeks thought his past with Hillis would help the case but Hetty benched him, and by extension Kensi, since Ray's deal with the Feds could reflect badly on Max. Deeks tried to argue but Hetty was having none of it. He and Kensi were handling the logistics on the Hillis case and any small matters that crossed Hetty desk.

Not that there was all that much to handle. Callen and Sam were running the Hillis case with the help of the Navy and the ATF, the former supplying the weapons while the latter supplemented NCIS's rock-solid backstopping. Nothing else caught Hetty's fancy so Kensi and Deeks spent two weeks working out, updating their DoD training and filing paperwork. Deeks wrote up a FISA warrant request or two just to kill time while improving his knife throwing skills. Kensi was trying to master Mandarin and was being taught how to fence by Hetty and an instructor who coached Mariel Zagunis. All that stopped 48-hours ago when Sam's faux gunnery sergeant arranged for 800 M-16s to be delivered with Callen as his arms dealer/money man. Everything was leading up to tonight's take-down and tonight started with Hillis calling twice to say he was going to be late.

"I got a bad feeling about this," Kensi mentioned to Deeks as they leaned over the big work desk in Ops. "We should be there."

"I agree," Deeks told her.

"Mr. Callen, any word from Mr. Hillis?" Hetty asked as she paced in front of the screen.

"He said eleven," Callen answered, dressed in a suit jacket, jeans and a dress shirt. Sam was dressed in jeans and a brown henley - typical Sam gear.

"And eleven was twenty minutes ago," Deeks reminded them all. "He was always on time when Ray and I dealt with him."

"Callen, Sam," Nell spoke up. "I have a white Mitsubishi truck turning onto La Tijera. Side panel reads Tyron Moving."

"Tactical team ready to go?" Kensi asked on comms.

"Yes, ma'am," Wes Braxton, head of the tac team, answered. "As soon as the deal is made, we're a-go."

"Facial rec positively ID's Hillis in the passenger seat," Eric told the team. "The driver's face isn't clear in any traffic camera."

"There's probably men in the back of the truck. Hillis wouldn't wreck his manicure prying open a crate of weapons, forget actually moving the product," Deeks said.

"A man after your own heart," Sam teased.

"I enjoy the quality menicure as much as the next guy but when I was working Hillis, Ray and I did all the heavy lifting - literally," Deeks joked.

"I can see the van from here," Callen advised. "Nell, anything on the driver?"

"Still can't find a usable angle on a traffic cam," Nell answered.

Eric added a picture-in-picture box on the big screen, showing the outside of the warehouse. The driver took a turn on the road up to the warehouse door, backing the truck up to the loading dock.

"I don't like this," Kensi said, echoing what Deeks was thinking.

"Probably just want to make it easier to load the guns," Callen said, watching the truck just outside the warehouse door, not quite comfortable with Hillis's actions either.

"Or make a hasty retreat. Be on your guard, Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna."

Deeks finally saw the driver. "This is a robbery, not a deal, Callen, Sam. Hugo Lawrence is the driver. Part hit man, part cleaner, all bad news." Deeks walked over the collaboration board and pulled up Lawrence's rap sheet from the LAPD database. He quickly e-mailed the document to Callen, Sam and the tactical team.

"Abort, Mr. Callen. Abort," Hetty ordered. "Mr. Deeks, when did you come across Mr. Lawrence?"

"He did some jobs for Emilio Ortega just before I got there. He was too crazy for Emilio. The same Emilio Ortega who wanted to chop off one of his dealer's hands for skimming from him. And Lawrence was too crazy for Emilio."

"Donohue, Davis," Hillis called to Callen and Sam as he walked into the warehouse, "I want you to meet an associate of mine."

"Now would be a good time to end this, Mr. Braxton," Hetty ordered just before Braxton and several of the tactical team members yelled "Federal Agents!"

Things never go well when people yell that, Deeks thought to himself as he watched the entire bust go to hell. While David Hillis made a run for the warehouse door trying to get back to the truck, Hugo Lawrence pulled out a sawed-off shotgun from under his military-style jacket. The first shot hit Callen square in his bullet-proof vest, sending him reeling. The second caught Callen in the thigh and knocked him to the ground. Sam got off two shots - Lawrence was also wearing a vest. The first hit the top of Lawrence's vest, the second got him in the throat.

"Mr. Beale, we're going to need an ambulance immediately," Hetty told Eric but he was already in contact with EMS. Ops was otherwise silent. Not for the first time Deeks wondered how Hetty, Eric and Nell could sit and watch from afar when the team was in the field running stings. He noticed Kensi's hands were balled into fists. He reached over and put his fight hand over the left fist. She shocked the hell out of him by relaxing just enough to hold his hand.

As Sam tried to cross to Callen, automatic weapon fire came from the warehouse door. David Hillis had an AR-15 rifle and was firing wildly. Sam's right arm flew back and he fell to the ground. Wes Braxton quickly ended David Hillis's attack and seemingly his life. The rest of the tactical team made quick work of the four men in waiting in the Mitsubishi. Braxton and his team member started to the center of the warehouse to offer first aid. Sam, bleeding from his right arm, crawled over to Callen, struggling to take off Callen's belt with his left hand.

Wes Braxton announced the "all-clear" as he and the tactical team member got to Callen. A failed attempt to push Sam away led to both Braxton and Sam working on a tourniquet for Callen. One of the tactical team members ran out of the warehouse only to return with what looked like a full EMT bag.

"Hetty, what should..."

Hetty cut off Kensi before she could finish her sentence. "Miss Blye, Mr. Deeks, please go to the Hanna household and pick up Michelle, I shall be calling her presently. Miss Jones, please have Mr. Callen's and Mr. Hanna's medical records sent to UCLA Medical Center. Mr. Beale, please coordinate with Mr. Braxton and LAPD. I want all everyone involved in tonight's events held until our people can question them. Contract Granger, his flight should be landing at LAX within the hour."

"I'll drive," Deeks told Kensi, who let go of his hand the minute Hetty's attention turned to them.

"I can do it."

"I know you can but I think..."

"I'll drive."

Deeks figured at least he offered knowing she wouldn't accept.

x-x-x

While their injuries were serious, Callen and Sam were out of surgery and in a shared room before 9AM the following morning. Both men would be out of action for some time. Callen's leg wound was severe and he broke his left elbow falling after he was shot. Sam was actually shot twice - once in the right forearm shattering his radial bone and one shot grazing his right shoulder that was more of a bleeder than anything else.

Sam wanted to check himself out AMA - Against Medical Advice - but was warned not to because of AMA - Against Michelle's Advice. He was staying at least another day as Michelle prepared for probably a three month stint of Sam recovering and rehabbing before a possible return to work. Callen was eventually going to return to the rehab facility where he recovered from his May 2009 shooting. He wondered if he got frequent patient points - a joke that did not sit well with Hetty. Hetty wanted a full review of what went wrong. She was tiring of hospitalized agents and yet another near-miss for members of her team.

Kensi and Deeks returned to his apartment just before three after dropping Michelle Hanna home. The two had orders not to return to the office before 1PM the next day. Monty needed some Deeks time that included a long walk for the dog. Deeks picked up some take out from Maxwell's for the non-canines in his apartment. Kensi and Deeks enjoyed a quick bite together and separate showers before they were sound asleep on his couch. Deeks woke up around nine and after bathroom visits for the non-canines and a stroll to the corner and back for Monty, he and Kensi fell into bed and back to sleep.

Kensi's phone rang first, not long after sunrise. The 1PM start for the day was being pushed up to right now. Deeks phone rang just after Kensi hung up - so much for sleeping in. She showered, he walked Monty. He showered, she found the Pop Tarts. Domestic bliss at its best.

Arriving at the office, Hetty looked tired but stronger than she did at the hospital a day earlier. Nell and Eric were back in Ops for another day. Granger was the surprise this morning. "Sorry to disturb your late day but the SecNav arrived in town the night Callen and Sam were shot. She spent yesterday in meetings with the several media outlets concerning the portrayal of the Navy as well as meeting with officials from China Lake and Point Magu. She visited Callen and Hanna last night," Granger stated their briefing.

"But her agenda today is the real reason we've called you in early Miss Blye and Mr. Deeks," Hetty told them. "Nell, if you please."

"Today, the SecNav along with her counterparts with the Army and Air Force as well as the Commandant of the Marines and several staffers from the Joint Chiefs will be part of a tour of the Historical Weaponry exhibit at the Design Museum in Downtown Los Angeles."

"There have been regular protests at the Design Museum," Deeks said, knowing several of his fellow officers were making good overtime money working the protests.

"And that's why the SecNav's party is being brought in this morning at 10 for a private tour," Eric put the memo from the Museum to the SecNav's security staff on the big screen.

"Why did the Design Museum even agree to the show?" Deeks asked. "They're usually showing how to light a city for a year with four potatoes and half a box of Tide. This seems out of character for them."

"The Design Museum's membership may agree with you Mr. Deeks but a wealthy, anonymous patron offered a ten million dollar donation to go with the six week exhibit. That is a sum of money the Design Museum, and really any museum, cannot turn down."

"And there are people who are into how armor was designed, its function and how it looked," Eric added.

Kensi smiled. "You know someone making a knights and sword video game, don't you Eric?"

"Maybe." Eric replied. "I was going with Sam next week. He loves this stuff. Obviously that's on hold."

"Getting back to the SecNav's tour," Granger tried to steer the conversation back on track. "While the various dignitaries have their typical security with them for this visit, it has been suggested that we have our own agents undercover during the tour as an extra team of eyes and ears."

"If it's a private tour," Kensi wondered aloud, "how do we join the group?"

"You and Mr. Deeks will pose as museum employees to get close to the SecNav's tour. The museum has already embedded Secret Service and MI5 agents with tours in the past. The museum's security people are in the business of protecting the exhibits, not dignitaries. Miss Blye, you'll be working as part of the museum's public relations staff since if I remember correctly, your art history knowledge is one of the few areas where you lack expertise."

Deeks smiled, figuring maybe it was his turn to shine. "I dated an art major in college. Walked through the Getty regularly with Paula. She loved the classics."

"Well, you'll be walking through the museum during this assignment, Mr. Deeks. Their janitor's uniform is quite a step up from your usual one piece work suit and they have the most uniquely designed dust pans."

"Again as a janitor? I do know a Manet from a Monet."

"We'll keep that in mind the next time one of our investigations requires a fine eye for French realism transitioning to impressionism versus just French impressionism but as a janitor, you'll be able to clearing the rooms just before the SecNav's group walks through."

"Do they expect trouble from protesters?" Kensi asked.

"The protests started dying down last week when the museum explained the exhibit guaranteed them the large donation and their plans for the donation," Nell replied. "There is a concern that a leak of the presence of the SecNav and her counterparts will bring the protesters back en masse."

"Do we know who made the donation?" Deeks was curious.

"While it is anonymous right now, the Secret Service signed off on whoever it was it because the both the Vice President and England's Prince William were given private tours last week." Granger looked at his watch. "You two should get changed and get over there as soon as possible. Deeks needs to check out the place before the tour and Kensi can't be joining it halfway through. I expect to hear from the both of you the minute the SecNav's group is back in their limos and on the way to Edwards Air Force Base."

"And then you might want to swing by the hospital. Mr. Hanna is being released sometime today, meaning Mr. Callen would likely enjoy some company."

Kensi and Deeks both nodded. This wasn't going to be too rough.

x-x-x

"Oh, we have to get Hetty to make them give us that uniform," Kensi said from the empty PR conference room. Her tablet was connected to the museum's surveillance cameras.

"Do you think this place has a burn room because I'm setting it on fire after I take it off," Deeks looked down at the museum's design contest winning janitor's uniform. The black pants stopped just above his ankle. The grey crocs he was assigned matched the piping on pants' hems and side-seams. The top was form fitting to his waist when it flared out with four large pockets making a near mid-thigh skirt. "I wish them nothing but a speedy recovery but thank God Callen and Sam aren't here."

"Oh, I sent Sam a screen shot of you working," Nell chirped in from Ops. "He and Michelle are in paperwork hell and I thought he could use a smile."

"I'll remember that Nell next time you need a favor," he feigned outraged. "Red light cam tickets," Deeks said as a fake cough.

"No, really, Deeks, it is a look only you can pull off," Eric teased.

Deeks sighed as he checked to see if the side exterior doors were locked throughout the main exhibition room. They were. He glanced at the complete suits of armor were housed in tall glass cases, passing the assorted weaponry and orphaned pieces of armor - helmets, visors and gauntlets -in cases in the middle of the room. Eric was right. Sam would love this stuff. "Why can't I be the PR expert?"

"With a haircut, Mr. Deeks," Hetty noted, "you might be able to pull off a more professional look."

"This is an art gallery, nobody wants to look professional."

"I look professional," Kensi said with pride.

"Of course you do, you're wearing a Hugo Boss suit. Put me in a Hugo Boss..."

"I don't think you'd look all that professional in Kensi's suit," Eric joked.

"And if we're done with the comedy portion of this operation, I'd like a status report," Granger jumped in.

"The SecNav and her group are currently taking photos with the museum's curator. When they start the tour, I will be trailing the group. The NCIS agents with the SecNav, Agents Yates and Burley, are aware that Deeks and I are with OSP."

"Who told them?" Granger asked.

"I worked with Stan Burley in early 2008 in Tokyo. He was the Agent Afloat on the Fitzgerald and there was a data breech. He remembered me."

"How did we miss that, Beale?" Granger was not happy.

"Burley was a last minute addition to the security team. Joel Etherton was listed with the SecNav's security team but was sent back to Washington last night. His wife went into early labor and the SecNav sent him home," Nell put the orders up on the big screen. "Burley is a senior agent in the Seal Beach Regional Office and was temporarily assigned to the security detail. The SecNav's office was aware of Callen and Sam's injuries and didn't want to overtax this office."

"So I can go home?" Deeks said hopefully as he walked the reflection camera attached to the circular dust pan under the exhibition case.

"Janice, if you're ready, our guests are ready to tour the exhibit," Gerard Dodd, the curator's assistant told Kensi.

"Mr. Deeks, your time in that most unique service uniform may be coming to an end, the tour is moving to the exhibit's anteroom. Please check the vestibule and wait for the group to finish their viewing of the exhibit."

Deeks slipped a small piece of duct tape on the door's bolt plate, allowing him instant access back into the room if needed. Pulling out his own tablet from one of the shirt's ridiculous pockets, he now watched the tour group, hoping none of them would see him in this stupid uniform.

The Commandant of the Marines was a history buff and engaged the guide showing every piece. The SecNav and her counterparts as well as each member of the officials' security teams and the rest of the tour members were attentive but not nearly as enthralled. Kensi liked military history and artifacts - her father was a fan. When she was younger, living in North Carolina, her parents would bring her to Washington on long weekends to sightsee. There would always be an afternoon where Don Blye would bring her to the Smithsonian to look at the military exhibits.

While the main members of the tour looked at a full suit of samurai armor and listened to the guide explain the individual pieces, Kensi looked at the smaller pieces in the exhibit table in the center of the room. Flanked by a series of helmets and visors in two exhibit cases, an assortment of breast plates, faulds, tassets and gauntlets were displayed.

As the tour moved to the center of the room, Kensi walked to the end of the exhibit table, noticing one of the gauntlets had what looked like a ruby on the knuckle of the middle finger. Kensi looked for a second and the metal around the ruby closed over the gem before opening again, almost winking at her. Kensi gasped.

"Kensi," Deeks came over the ear wig, "what's the matter?"

"Nothing," she said looking at the tour group as they made their way to her.

"Kens," Deeks said knowingly.

"Nothing, really," she said, convincing herself the shooting of Callen and Sam and the lack of sleep over the last couple of days had her seeing things. She was definitely not seeing things when a side exterior door opened and a concussion grenade was tossed under the exhibit table.

"Bomb," Kensi, Cassie Yates and Stan Burley all yelled. Kensi grabbed the museum guide as Cassie Yates shielded the Sec Nav. Deeks opened the vestibule door yelling, "In here." as the tour members raced to him. Stan Burley, the museum guide and Kensi were on the wrong side of the grenade.

"Mr. Deeks, I thought you checked those side doors."

"Hetty, I did, I swear." Deeks stood at the door with his gun drawn, pushing people into the vestibule. "They were locked."

"The security cameras behind the museum show nobody is in the driveway area," Eric said.

"Someone threw that grenade, Mr. Beale. Find them. Status, Mr. Deeks?"

"Everyone's secure but Burley, Kensi and the museum guide. Let's move, Kensi," Deeks yelled.

"Go," Burley ordered as he slid under the table and attempted to kick the grenade to the side door.

Kensi pushed the guide toward the Deeks. She saw the grenade slide back to the side door just as it exploded.

The tall exhibit cases holding the armor withstood the blast though several items fell from the suits. The exhibition table, however, shattered, sending wood, glass and the items held in the case into the air.

As Kensi tried to pull an unconscious Stan Burley toward Deeks, she felt something metallic hit her right wrist as the glass rained down on them. The side doors reopened and two masked gunmen walked in with automatic weapons. Kensi pulled out her gun as she tried to drag Burley away from danger.

"Freeze, LAPD," Deeks called from the doorway. They started shooting at him. Watching the SecNav's group leave through the back of the vestibule, Deeks said, "I'll hold them off" to Cassie Yates as she sought to bring the group to safety.

"Deeks, Kensi, LAPD SWAT is two minutes out," Nell told him as he fired at the gunman closest to him. A shot to his chest, center mass, did little to slow the gunman down. Deeks raised his eye level and aimed for the man's neck. As the gunman took another step, Deeks shot him in the throat.

"Kensi!?" Deeks called. "Nell, I can't see Kensi, there's too much smoke," Deeks said.

"What can you see, Mr. Deeks?" Hetty asked.

Deeks turned to Yates, "Get them out of here."

"The cameras in the main exhibition room must have been taken out with the grenade," Nell told Deeks. "I'm going to try something, see if I can switch the anti-theft sensors to infrared and lead you to Kensi."

Kensi didn't see much and could hear even less. Her earwig was long gone and even if she found it, the ringing in her ears would render it useless. She thought she heard gunfire and Deeks calling her name.

Through the smoke, she saw a figure moving toward her. The figure - a tall man - was wearing a black baggy jumpsuit and black Doc Martens. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," the man said with a slight German accent. "He told me you'd be a worthy opponent. Instead, you're cowering in the corner, little girl. I expected more of a fight."

Kensi lifted her weapon and fired. The SIG jammed.

"Oh, did we forget to clean our weapon this morning. You weren't worth the money paid for this assignment but I'll take it anyway," the man teased as he made his way closer.

Kensi leaned over to Burley but his belt holster was empty.

Kensi thought she heard Deeks calling her name again but she didn't want to confirm her location to her adversary. She was pulling her knife from her jacket pocket when she was kicked into the wall. Kensi had the wind knocked out of her and the knife knocked away.

"Weak," the man said as he lifted his weapon.

Dazed, Kensi looked up and saw...no, it couldn't be.

"Baby girl," Don Blye told his beloved daughter, "You have to protect yourself. Have faith in yourself and those who love you. You are so much stronger than I ever dreamed you'd be. You've made me proud every day of your life. Protect yourself at all costs, you are worth the fight." As quickly as he appeared, Don Blye was gone. Instead, the gunman stood over Kensi.

Kensi instinctively raised her hands to protect herself when she felt something wrap around her right hand and lower arm. Something metal. Finally able to hear and catching her breath, she braced herself for the shot, desperate for Deeks to find her.

The first shot was fired but bounced off the metal protecting her right arm. The second shot not only bounced off the metal but ricocheted back at the shooter. As he tried to grab Kensi's arm, she swung her arm at him, earning a gasp and a "son of a bitch," from the shooter. Pulling her arm down, she could see there was a five inch blade come from the middle knuckle of the gauntlet.

Kensi heard Deeks yell freeze and fired his weapon. The shooter crumpled to the ground.

Kensi looked at her arm, watching what looked like the gauntlet that winked at her fold itself into a bracelet around her wrist. The action was barely completed when Deeks grabbed her.

"Are you okay?" Deeks was almost patting her down. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she lied. "Agent Burley is hurt."

"Nell, we've got injured."

"Who is injured Mr. Deeks?" Hetty asked.

"The bad guys are dead or close to it. Burley's out cold," Deeks said, bending over to look at the NCIS agent, seeing small cuts all over his forehead. "Kensi's a little shook up."

"I am no such thing." Kensi looked down at the bracelet on her wrist and tried to remove it. When she tried to pull it off, it was hot to the touch. She felt her left fingers start to burn while the bracelet's touch on her right wrist remained cool.

"Miss Blye, I expect you to receive medical attention."

"I don't think she has her earwig," Deeks said, pulling off his awful shirt and making it a pillow for Burley. First useful thing that shirt did all day. The unconscious agent's breathing was fine - he was just out cold.

"Then I expect you, Mr. Deeks, to make sure she is checked by the paramedics. I think a return to the office is unnecessary. Please drive Agent Blye home if the medical professionals think that's wise."

"Where's Agent Yates?" Deeks said as he stood, finally remembering the reason they were there.

"Agent Yates got the SecNav and her group to safety. LAPD SWAT is standing down for now. Mr. Deeks, get Mr. Burley and Miss Blye medical attention immediately."

x-x-x

Deeks changed in the SWAT truck, glad the team leader remembered and liked him from the Academy. Burley came around just as the EMTs got to him. He was going to Cedars for a full neurological work up. Deeks lent the NCIS agent his phone - Burley's fell from his suit just as he kicked the bomb away, meeting a premature end - to call his wife. A Marine MP based at Seal Beach was bringing Nancy Burley to the hospital.

Kensi refused any hospital trip but agreed to being checked out by the EMTs. She sat at the door of the ambulance as a medic was dabbing antiseptic on a few scratches on her face. A quick check of her torso showed a bad bruise but no broken ribs.

LAPD, LAFD and the FBI were all over the museum. Deeks was answering questions as needed and leaning on planter outside the museum used in bomb protection while watching Kensi in the ambulance. He heard from Eric - the video feed of the alley behind the museum was a loop from earlier in the morning. A different security camera from the museum's loading dock saw a black SUV pull into the alley and a shot of what looked to be a ladder being used. Nell thought that was whoever tampered with the cameras. And whoever was the key. A quick fingerprint check could not identify the two dead gunmen.

As Kensi waited to hear from the EMT that she was free to go, Michelle Hanna walked up to the ambulance. "You're not allowed to get hurt while Sam is out. I thought I made that clear last winter when Sam was shot." Michelle shook her head in mock disgust. "He's going to think the two of you can't take care of yourselves and rush his rehab."

Kensi smiled, "We weren't trying to get hurt, I promise."

"No, you were all laughing at Deeks's janitor's uniform. Poor boy will never live that down. Sam wants a clean photo of Deeks in the uniform to make gag Christmas cards for the office," Michelle joked. "Hey, how are you really doing, Kensi?"

"Still recovering from Deeks's janitor's uniform," Kensi deflected as she stared at the bracelet. Looking up at Michelle, Kensi saw Sam talking to the bomb squad. "Did Sam insist you drive him here?"

"He and Eric were having a good time making fun of Deeks's shirt of many pockets using the secure tablet Hetty left for him last night. There were more forms getting him out of the hospital than in. As we got into my car, the bomb went off. Eric tried to disconnect the call but Sam made it clear he still had one good arm and knows where Eric lives. He listened while we were supposed to be driving home. By the time it was over, we were about five blocks from here."

"Sorry."

"What matters is the two of you aren't badly hurt. What happened to you?"

That was an excellent question, Kensi thought to herself but figured Michelle would return to the hospital with Kensi ticketed to the psych ward if she spoke the truth. "There was a concussion grenade and some smoke...lots of confusion...you know, another day at NCIS."

While Michelle and Kensi chatted, Sam finished with the bomb squad and made his way to Deeks. "Where's the shirt?" Sam asked as he walked up.

"Someplace you'll never find it," Deeks joked. Burley actually bled on it so he had the EMT treat it as biological waste. "You should be home."

"We're a team," Sam said as he waved to Kensi. She waved back with her left hand.

"And you're recovering. Seriously, man, it didn't go down the way it was supposed to but everyone who matters is fine or going to be fine and everyone who doesn't matter is dead."

"No idea who is behind this?"

"No, but there is money involved. The dead guys aren't in the system so someone paid to bring them in. They lasered their way through the steel side door," Deeks pointed to the side door. "This wasn't a smash and grab operation."

"The bomb squad is interested in the device. The usual concussion/smoke grenade is shaped like a can of shaving cream. This thing is like a stainless steel hockey puck. State of the art and not cheap."

"Thank God people are putting resources into building a smaller and more efficient grenades and not wasting their time curing cancer."

"How's Kensi?"

"Oh, she's fine, just ask her. She'll tell you she's fine and never say another word."

"You think the bomb maybe triggered..."

"I don't know. She never talks about what happened. She cries sometimes, has the occasional nightmare. I know if I press too hard she'll just bury that deeper so I hold her and tell her I'm there for her if she wants to talk."

"And one day she'll talk to you. You're good for her. You always have been."

"Thanks," Deeks was genuinely grateful for Sam's support. "When do you start P.T."

"Week after next and not a minute before," Michelle said as she and Kensi joined Sam and Deeks.

"The doctor said I could do some running..."

"The doctor said you can help me run some errands, big difference."

Deeks looked at Kensi. "You OK?"

"I'm fine and before you say anything, I am really fine."

Michelle pointed her finger at Deeks. "I told her and I'll tell you. There are enough injured NCIS agents in Special Projects right now."

"I'm still LAPD," Deeks said before he saw Sam shake his head and make the cut sign with his good arm.

"I don't care what agency you come from, you two look out for each other, you both look out for the two tech geniuses, the big, bad boss lady and the guy formerly with the CIA."

"Technically the little bad boss lady but OK," Deeks noted, enjoying Michelle in charge. Sam just shook his head.

Michelle didn't pay either man any mind. "Take your partner home and make sure she's alright. Then get your girlfriend some dinner."

Deeks smiled. "Yes ma'am."

"You go home with your partner. Let him get you dinner and then you let your boyfriend tuck you in and watch you sleep. Lord knows that's what I'll be doing with him for the next few weeks." Michelle put her arm around Sam and said "Your team is safe, you're going home."

"The boss has spoken," Sam said.

"I'll call you soon Sam," Kensi said as Sam and Michelle started to leave.

"Not until next week," was Michelle's final warning to them.

Kensi would wait until Michelle gave her the OK. Maybe Sam would know about her bracelet and why she couldn't get it off her arm.

x-x-x

Deeks took Kensi back to his place and followed Michelle's instructions faithfully. During dinner, Monty sat at Kensi's feet, as if he knew she was troubled. Deeks fielded calls from the office. "Yes" Kensi was resting. "Yes" they were both fine "Yes" they planned on returning to work the following day. To Kensi's surprise, Deeks told her the Museum announced every piece was accounted for and hoped to reschedule the SecNav's group. Not to her surprise, the group members passed.

Kensi objected when Deeks said he was sleeping on the couch but Deeks was worried she was sore and wanted her to rest comfortably. She quickly slipped on a long tee-shirt she had in her go-bag that covered the bruises on her torso and the bracelet. She tried twice to remove the bracelet and had her fingers scorched both times.

Deeks shooed Monty out of his bedroom. He kissed Kensi and told her to starfish alone on the bed while she could, he had plans for her when she was back in fighting form. As he turned off the light, she wondered if the plans took in the fact that fighting form included her right arm as a weapon.


Author's notes: Yeah I know, I hate them and then I write them.

This is a crossover with a completely different fandom so incredibly AU. Will not be most people's cup of tea. As for the other fandom - it is based on just parts of it and you do not have to be super involved in that fandom to follow this (because I'm not). Wow, could I convince you any harder not to read this? This is a little out of my comfort zone with alternating POVs and being Kensi-centric but getting out of one's comfort zone every now and again is fun.

TLDR: I saw a picture from a different fandom and had an idea.

Posting schedule remains the same - every Sunday until we're done.