AN: Hey guys! It's been a busy season, but I'm back… sorta! ;) This just came to me, so let me know what you think!

Blessings,

bookdiva

Ignored. Again.

Kensi leaned back in her chair, unsure of what to do. Her partner had ignored her 40 odd calls. She hadn't even talked to him since they'd stood in the bull pen.

"For whatever it's worth."

Those were the last words he'd spoken directly to her.

"For whatever it's worth."

She sighed for what felt like the thousandth time and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her desk. It was a slow morning in OSP. Sam had just returned to work, and was currently exchanging barbs with Callen, who was pretending to work on paperwork beside her. Neither man seemed to notice Kensi's uncharacteristic lack of paperwork.

It turned out that, without her partner around on a daily basis, her social life wasn't all that… full. Actually, she'd had almost nothing to do with her free time for the last month but do paperwork and make ignored calls. And now that they finally a slow day in the office, she had a suspicious lack of anything to occupy her mind.

Maybe Hetty has some cold cases I can go over, she thought. She turned her chair, intending to go ask, when something caught her eye.

A plain yellow sticky note with her partner's handwriting:

Ray- 555-867-5309

He'd given it to her in case of an emergency. For a moment, Kensi couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. After being Max, Deeks had been almost desperate to show her he still trusted her, and that he was still worthy of her trust. Giving her the number to the burner phone he'd given to Ray was his way of saying 'we're good'.

Maybe Ray would know how to reach him…

The thought caught her off guard.

He might, though, she realized. They grew up together, after all, so Ray must have seen Deeks after… the not so great parts of his life.

Deciding that her partner's situation definitely constituted an emergency, Kensi grabbed the sticky and her phone.

"I'm taking an early lunch," Kensi said over her shoulder to Sam and Callen. Both nodded, but neither hollered requests her way, for which she was grateful.

Kensi slipped out of the mission building to the parking lot. Getting in her car, she locked the door and pulled out the stick note.

You can do this, Kens, she assured herself. It's for Deeks. Anything for Deeks.

With that strengthening thought, she grabbed her phone with new found determination and dialed the number. It rang once. Twice. Three times.

After the fourth ring, her stomach was in knots and she was seriously considering hanging up.

"Hey, man! You and Wikipedia finally worked out that thing, huh?" Ray's voice came over the line.

Kensi was too stunned to reply.

They talked about our thing? she thought, amazed. That's why he gave Ray the phone? To let him know about us? Our thing?

"Marty?" Ray's slightly worried voice interrupted her thoughts.

"N-no, it's Kensi," she finally said.

"Oh!" Ray said, sounding more than a little surprised. "Hey, Wikipedia! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"He really talked to you about our… thing?" Kensi breathed, ignoring his question.

"Yeah," Ray said, drawing out the word. "Look, I don't know how many bro-code laws I've already broken in this conversation… wait a second. How'd you even get this number?"

"Deeks gave it to me," she answered. "Said to use it in emergencies. Which this is…"

"What's wrong?" Ray asked, not able to disguise the worry in his voice. "What's happened to Marty? Is he hurt?"

Kensi closed her eyes, suddenly fighting tears.

"N-no, well yes… kind of…."

"Which is it?" Ray exclaimed, clearly worried over his little brother.

"He's okay… physically," she managed at last. "At least now. But about a month ago, we had a mission go… wrong. Deeks was captured and… he was, um, he was…" Kensi tried to get the words out, but she couldn't make herself say it.

"He was what?" Ray exclaimed, sounding more and more agitated. "Shot? Disabled? What!?"

"Tortured," Kensi finally ground out. The word left a bitter taste in her mouth, and a stunned silence on the other end of the line.

"Oh my god," Ray finally whispered. It was silent between then for another long moment. "How—"

"That's why I'm calling you," Kensi interrupted him. "He's not taking my calls, and I haven't seen him in almost a month. I don't know how to help him, and then I saw your number and I thought…"