MARVEL by Elsa

Spoilers: this takes place after episode 502 (Impact)

Disclaimer: I don't own them, just like to write and read about them :-)

MARVEL

Part 1 - Kensi

Some people need a little time to adjust when they wake up. Slightly confused by sleep induced bliss, they find themselves pulled back into reality in a rather abrupt way. Their brains don't immediately pick up on the signs, and it takes a while before realisation kicks in.

Kensi Blye didn't react like that - ever. When she woke up, no matter the time of day or how long she had been asleep, she usually was instantly and fully aware of everything. Of things that were out of the ordinary, events that had happened, places where she was and with whom.

So when she woke up, she wasn't confused about her surroundings. She knew where she was. Her inner clock told her it was sometime between two and three in the middle of the night, and she realised at once that the crick in her neck was caused by falling asleep on the couch in the living room.

She blinked a few times to shield her eyes from the TV, which was still on. Although the sound was turned down low, she could vaguely hear a slick salesman telling her what an opportunity she would miss if she didn't buy his household appliance for 129 dollars.

Kensi noticed the remote control squeezed between her leg and a few pillows, fished it out and turned the TV off. Suddenly the light in the room was much more pleasant, soft and dim, coming only from a slightly battered but tasteful floor lamp in the corner of the room.

Next to her on the couch, not having moved an inch since she had seen how he succumbed to sleep only a few minutes after her arrival, was Marty Deeks, breathing very slowly, completely unaware of the world around him.

She looked at his sleeping face and took in his features, his blond tousled hair, the slight stubble, the closed eyelids behind which blue eyes were hidden, eyes that looked at the world with an almost eternal spark of cheekiness, just like the smile that always seemed to curl around the corners of his lips.

He looked calm, relaxed at last. Vulnerable but at ease. Finally. Kensi had heard talk of Deeks unable to sleep and therefor hardly able to process what he'd been through. She had called him so many times she had lost count. She had been around his house but he had refused to open the door. Clearly he didn't want contact, but thankfully tonight he had shown her in.

The awkwardness between them had vanished the moment they sat down and delved into the food Kensi brought. Almost naturally trust seemed to be restored, albeit a slightly fragile state still.

Truth was that, when she was paired up with Deeks in the beginning, it had taken her time to get used to him. In a way, she was lonely from time to time without Dom, even though Sam and Callen had taken her under their wings after his death. But it wasn't the same. A partnership within NCIS consisted of two, not three.

So she got to work with Marty Deeks and had to admit that, although he sometimes drove her up the wall with his talk that often seemed to go nowhere, he was also funny, witty and caring and had a great sense of duty and righteousness. He had saved her without hesitation when she had been held captive between laser beams that would trigger an explosion if they were broken. He goofed around a lot, but that was his defence mechanism. It had taken a while but she had grown to appreciate his way to alleviate the tension. And she had come to trust him completely and utterly: he was her partner.

Now, everything was different. He had kissed her. She was so completely, utterly taken aback by it that she hadn't known and still didn't know what to do. Before she could think about it, Deeks had been abducted, tortured and when he was found, she had to tell him, with terrible pain in her heart, to sit it out when he could and should have been saved. Personal feelings were not a priority anymore, personal safety was.

In the dim lit room she closed her eyes for a few seconds when that flashback came back and overwhelmed her. More than anything she wanted to hold Deeks when she found him strapped to the chair, all bloodied, hurting and scared, and she wanted to tell him everything was going to be fine, but at that moment she couldn't and after that he was too confused and traumatised to do so.

It was a good sign that he had finally let her in. That was the start. His mumbled "A love story" to her rhetorical question of what would be next had surprised her. He wouldn't remember that in the morning. She was even more confused by her own emotions. How could he ever know how much he meant to her? He had taken the first step to express his true feelings for her, but she hadn't been able to return hers just yet. She didn't know what she felt - let alone what she could tell him. Her inner turmoil made her nervous.

With the back of her hand, she felt his cheek and touched his hands, every so softly. He was a bit chilly. He needed a blanket and she needed to get home.

Very softly not to disturb him, she got up, took a blanket from a chair and covered him with it. He didn't move. Talk about deep sleep.

She needed to pee and quietly made her way to the bathroom, where she did what she had to. When she washed her hands, the face in the mirror looked back at her with a somewhat dishevelled look, hair that stood every way and a slight imprint on her right cheek of where Deeks' hideous pink cat pillow had been. Her shirt was pretty crumpled.

She splashed some cold water in her face, took a towel from a stand and buried her face in it. It smelled of Deeks. His scent was in the fabric and she suddenly found herself taking in the smell as if it was pure nectar. She loved it. Suddenly, she just couldn't get enough of the scent that engulfed her as warm and welcoming as sunshine on a cold day.

While keeping the towel close, she looked at Deeks' neatly organised toiletries on the shelf. A razor, after shave, deodorant, a comb, toothpaste, dental floss, and then her eye fell on a toothbrush in a holder. The holder had the shape of Superman. The little action figure embraced a cup with one hand and with his other hand he held the toothbrush up high, almost triumphantly. She smiled, picked the cup up and looked at it a bit more closely. Superman with a big grin full of white, shiny teeth.

It reminded her of what she used to have as a kid: a little blue children's suitcase with Wonder Woman on the front. She loved that thing and dragged around everywhere. Her dad had bought for her. DC and Marvel Comics, yeah. Right.

When she put the cup back on the shelf, a computerised voice from a chip, triggered by a switch in the bottom of the holder exclaimed: 'Hey! Have ya done your brushwork? Good! See ya next time!'

Kensi smiled. Now, that was typically Deeks.

Then, out of the blue, she heard a shriek and a cry coming from the living room.

'Deeks!'

In just a few steps she was inside, where Deeks was struggling with an invisible enemy in a horrifying dream. He punched the air with his fists and kicked his feet, tossed his head from left to right, screaming out in fear and agony. The blanket was caught between his legs and he kicked, trying to release himself from it. His breath, which had been so calm and steady a minute ago, was now ragged. He gasped for air.

'No! No!'

'Deeks! Wake up! You're dreaming! Deeks! Wake up!'

'No! No! NOOO!'

'Deeks! It's me! Kensi!' She grabbed his hands, he had to listen.

'...Kens?… No… that's not real… you're not… leave her alone… leave Sam alone… no… don't...'

Kensi's heart nearly broke. 'Deeks! Wake up! It's me, Kensi. It's alright, you're home. There's just us, you're dreaming! Come on, open your eyes… look at me… listen to my voice, it's me… Kensi. Come on, Deeks.'

She wanted to caress his face, cup it in her hands and calm him down, but was afraid for his reaction and didn't dare to. Instead she touched his hair. He jerked his head back as if he was bitten.

Five minutes passed. Five minutes that seemed to last five hours, five years, a lifetime. Five minutes in which Deeks kept uttering scared cries and panted for air, five minutes in which Kensi kept talking and urged him to follow her back from his dark place to where she was.

Then his nightmare was over. A thin film of sweat covered his face and he still breathed heavily, but the worst was over. He hadn't even woken up, trapped in the dream caused by exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

Very gently Kensi eased him down and covered him again with the blanket that he had kicked away so vehemently. In fact, he would be better off in a proper bed, but for now, this had to do.

'...Kens...?' came his voice, thick with sleep. This was different than the scared way in which he had called out her name during the nightmare. Through the mist he had found her voice or felt her hands and realised she was present.

'Yeah...Shhhsssh… I'm right here… sleep, Deeks.'

'...kay…' He turned to his side and curled up like a little child. She looked at his back and saw him shiver. She couldn't tell if it was an after effect of the nightmare or the chill of the night that caused it.

'Are you cold?' she asked softly. 'Deeks?'

'A bit…' he mumbled, but his teeth clattered.

For a second, she looked at the lean figure on the couch, then made her mind up and crawled down next to him. She pulled the blanket around the two of them and put her arm around him. He was cold, but she was warm and she huddled close to him. Like two spoons in a drawer they occupied the limited space on the couch.

'Better?' she whispered after a while, not sure if he could hear her.

He didn't respond. The moment she put her arm around him and her warmth reached him, she had felt him relax. His trust in her was so completely that he could give in now.

She closed her eyes. It wasn't all that bad to be like this. The last conscious thought before she drifted off, was Deeks' toothbrush holder. Superman.

Coming soon: part 2, Deeks.

Reviews? Comments? Yes please! Thanks for reading.