Deeks knew he wasn't ready for this. He didn't really have a choice. It was too late to back out now. But he wasn't ready. And he knew it was painfully obvious to the whole team.

"You and Brookes ready to go in Deeks?"

Deeks glanced over at Special Agent Sandra Brookes, who nodded with a small smile. "On your word, Callen."

"Go ahead."

Deeks swung the door of his car open and stepped out, scanning the hotel parking lot and taking note of the surrounding cars, security cameras, entrances, exits, and any other details he thought may be useful in the future. He then stepped around to the passenger door and opened it, offering his hand to Agent Brookes as she gracefully stepped out.

She had painted her nails and lips bright red, and her brown curls fell loosely across petite shoulders. Deeks thought briefly that any other male agent in his position would be feeling pretty lucky to have Agent Brookes playing their wife for the weekend.

But Deeks had another brunette on his mind. One that was reluctantly sitting back at ops with Eric and Nell, most likely watching him from a security camera.

It was unsettling. It felt unnatural. Unnerving.

And under any other circumstance, there was no way Deeks would agree to go out in the field with anyone other than his partner.

But it was his fault she'd managed to sprain her ankle last week. He inwardly cringed at the memory as he accompanied Brookes, hand in hand, into the hotel lobby.

"Nice place," he commented casually as he strode through the glass doors.

Beside him, Brookes giggled and lightly touched his bicep with her fingertips.

She was playing her role. And it was Deeks' turn to play his. He gently withdrew his fingers from hers and placed his arm lightly around her waist. She looked up at him with a smile, her dark eyes sparkling. He met her gaze as he glanced down at her, but found himself unable to hold it for long. Something about it felt fake. It was fake, of course. But he felt like it looked fake. Something he'd never really felt with Kensi.

"Enjoying yourself there, partner?"

Deeks cringed at the tone in Kensi's voice as it reached his earpiece. He was suddenly very glad that Brookes didn't have one in her ears.

He didn't respond to Kensi's comment. Couldn't respond without it sounding completely out of the blue to anyone listening. But he thought that if he could, he'd probably accuse her of being jealous.

Yep, definitely jealous.

He withdrew his hand from Sandy's waist as they approached the concierge desk. "I have a suite reserved under the name 'Bentley'."

The woman at the desk nodded with a smile and tapped at the computer keyboard. "Kyle and Louise Bentley?"

"That's us," Sandy replied airily.

"You'll be in suite 304. Enjoy your stay." The woman passed a set of card keys to Deeks and gestured towards the elevator.

"Thank-you!" Sandy responded with a little too much enthusiasm and a soft giggle. She wasn't nearly as natural as Kensi at this.

"Her laugh is really starting to bother me," Kensi said through presumably gritted teeth.

Deeks couldn't help but laugh at his partner's response, which earned him a questioning look from Brookes, a look he decided to ignore. It wasn't till they were safely in the elevator that Deeks allowed himself to respond to Kensi. "Someone forget to put sugar in her coffee this morning?" He asked anyone who might be listening.

"Shut up, Deeks."

He looked down at poor Sandy who wore a confused expression. "My partner's in a bad mood this morning," he explained simply.

"Bad choice of words, Deeks," Callen warned.

"Your partner?" Brookes questioned.

"Uh—" Deeks began.

"Agent Blye is not your partner here, Detective. There's a reason I'm here instead of her."

"Did she really just say that?" The agitation in Kensi's voice was clear.

"Careful. She can hear you," Deeks responded to Brookes.

"Change the subject, Deeks," came Eric's solid advice.

And normally, that was advice Deeks would gladly take. But not this time. There was something in Brookes' words that put Deeks on edge.

But what on earth could he say to that though? They reached the hotel suite and he unlocked and opened the door, allowing her to step past him before closing it behind her.

"Kens, you still there?"

"I'm here, Deeks. How's the room?"

"Nice." The words he'd planned to say to say to Brookes seemed to disappear. "How's…wherever you are?"

"Boring."

"Hey!" Deeks heard Nell's disapproving exclamation.

"Can't believe that bimbo's there instead of me."

Deeks glanced over at Sandra who was unpacking her bags in the bedroom. He wanted to agree with Kens. He hated not having her here. He hated that it was his fault. And he hated that this Sandy woman seemed to think she was here because she was better than Kensi. But he didn't say any of that. Didn't know how. And couldn't with Sandy standing in the next room anyway.

Yes Sandy. She'd asked to be called Sandy. At least it was quicker than Agent Brookes. But, unfortunately, longer than just Brookes.

Forcing himself to focus on the situation at hand, he decided to respond in the best way he knew how – with humor. "Missing me, partner?"

He heard Kensi scoff on the other end. "Don't let her hear you call me that."

Deeks slumped onto the couch and felt the tension ease away as he spoke to Kensi. "What have they got you doing back there, anyway?"

"I don't even know, Deeks," she moaned. "I can't believe I'm stuck—"

"She loves it here," Eric interjected.

Deeks smiled. "Staying off that ankle?"

"Yes."

"Not as much as she should be," Nell added.

"Kens…" Deeks shook his head. "You need—"

"I know, Deeks. I know."

"Good."

"Marty, which side of the bed do you sleep on?" Sandy called from the other room.

"Uh…" Deeks' mind raced. She wanted to share the bed? "Kens," he whispered, "Kens, did you get that?"

"Right. You sleep on the right side, Deeks," Kensi reminded him, as if he needed reminding.

"I know that."

What was he supposed to say? He'd been fully expecting to sleep on the couch for the weekend. Hadn't even considered the alternative. Surely this was inappropriate, right? He should tell Hetty, right? Well, maybe not. He'd shared a bed with Kensi when they'd been undercover as a married couple. But Kensi was Kensi. And Brookes was… well, not Kensi.

"Marty?"

"Kensi?" He had no idea why he'd whispered her name. Was he asking her permission? Pfft. No. Definitely not. Was he seeking her approval? No. Probably not. Maybe?

"Answer her!" Kensi sounded mildly amused on the other end of the line. Deeks suddenly wished he could see the expression she currently wore.

"I can't!" He whispered louder than he'd intended.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to," Deeks blurted. He probably sounded like a child to her.

"Oh."

At that moment, Sandy appeared in the doorway that led to the bedroom. She leaned against the door frame and pushed a brown curl out of her face. "Did you hear me, Detective Deeks?"

"Kens, I'll call you later."

"No. Uh-uh. Don't you dare hang up on me."

"Bye." He made an abrupt attempt to end the conversation.

"Deeks." Kensi protested.

"Bye," Nell chirped on the other end.

"Deeks!"

"Bye," came Eric's voice. Deeks realised had almost forgotten the two technical analysts were on the line, a mistake he'd made more than once. A mistake that would no doubt get him into trouble one day.

He reached up and pulled the com out of his ear, shoving it into his pocket. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

He knew what the question was. Of course he knew. This was stalling. Ever so slightly.

"Do you prefer the right or left side?"

"Of…?"

"Of the bed."

"Oh. We're…you're—I mean, we're assuming—well, you're assuming we'll be, you know…sharing?"

So eloquent, Deeks.

Sandra turned a light shade of red but her expression didn't change. "I didn't think it'd be a problem. We're both professionals. And our covers are married."

"Right."

She had a point.

"The right side?"

"No, right as in… the other right. As in 'okay'."

"Okay what?" The poor woman was confused, and maybe slightly frustrated.

But Deeks' mind kept going back to Justin and Melissa. With Kensi, it was comfortable. Sure, he'd made his jokes and she'd rolled her eyes. They teased and they bickered. But that was them. Just them. To try and replicate that now… To even come close to accidentally replicating something similar to it… it would be an injustice.

Thinking way too deeply about this. It's a bed. Let it go.

"I'm uh, I think I'll just take the couch."

"Marty, it's a bed. I don't think Kensi will mind."

What?

A look of genuine shock crossed Deeks' face. "Kensi? You think this is about Kensi?"

"Well, if I was Kensi, you wouldn't mind, right?" Sandy had one hand on her hip. Her tone was suspicious and scolding, and her eyes panned him scathingly. If she was Kensi right now, he might actually find it cute.

Okay, it's time to stop comparing her to Kensi.

"Yes! No. Wait…"

"I get it, okay? You two are what? Dating? Physically intimate?"

"What? No." Deeks' voice cracked as he denied it, and he cleared his throat, suddenly all too aware that he was not very convincing in his denial. "No. We are partners. She's my partner."

"And that's it?" Sandy asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes! No. Not really. We are friends too, I guess. Well, I don't guess. I mean, I know we're friends. At least I'm pretty sure I'm her friend. But do I care about her? Yes. Platonically. Purely platonically. Are we dating? No. I mean, we hang out. As friends. Platonic friends. Am I in love with her? Uh, no! I don't know how that even came up. We're professional. We're friends. Partners. Good partners with a strong relationship. No. No, no. Not relationship. Friendship. Partnership. Yeah. I'm sorry, what was the question?"

Sandy simply nodded. A bemused, maybe slightly annoyed, definitely disbelieving expression painted right across her face. "Okay then."

She then disappeared into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Deeks leaned back into the couch. This had definitely gotten off on the right foot, he thought sarcastically. The picture of professionalism, he was.

"Partners," he mumbled to himself. "We're partners."

…

Kensi stared at the blank screen in front of her, absentmindedly chewing her left thumb nail. Yeah, so it hadn't been easy watching Deeks go undercover with that Brookes girl. Sandy, was it?

The woman had made a bad impression from the beginning. Unabashedly ogling Deeks, not that Kensi blamed her. Insinuating multiple times that she would do a better job than Kensi the Cripple, not that she had explicitly called Kensi that, but still. Then making that outrageous comment that she was now Deeks' partner? She'd been here four days! And if all went well, she'd be here another week or two maximum.

Deeks was Kensi's partner. They were Deeks and Kensi. No, Kensi and Deeks. She was his partner. Not this new girl. He knew that, right?

She let her mind wander to the last conversation she'd had with Deeks. He hadn't wanted to share a bed with Sandy. That meant something, right? That was a good thing, wasn't it? Not that Kensi would have been upset if he had slept in the same bed as Sandy.

But it'd be weird. Definitely weird.

Bottom line – he was her partner. He was hers. And undercover work – that was theirs. It was their thing. This fake relationship stuff – that was their thing. They'd done it many times. And it was theirs. And the weeks they'd shared undercover as Justin and Melissa – that was theirs too.

Trying not to think before she acted, Kensi withdrew her phone from her pocket and began to type a text message to Deeks. It wasn't her business. She should let it go. He wouldn't be expecting her to ask. But she had to know. She needed to know.

…

'So did she let you have the right side?' Her first message read.

'Couch was more comfortable. I miss you, sugar bear. Don't be mad at me for saying that. If you are, then I'll blame overtiredness.' He responded.

'Really? She's your wife now but I still get the nick names?'

'They're just for you, hun-bun.'

'Lucky me.'

'Lucky you. Night, wifey.'

'Night, hubby.'

'Oh and Deeks – I miss you too. Blame overtiredness.'