Disclaim...disclaim...disclaim...not my characters...NCIS: Los Angeles is not mine.
Classified
"Come on, show me what you got." Detective Marty Deeks taunted, while holding the basketball with both hands as he tried to evade Callen. Callen swatted the ball, but Marty dodged the attempt and successfully shot a three-point shot. "Whoosh" He exclaimed happily as he jumped reenacting the shot without the ball, "Boo-ha! He scores!" His right hand cupped his right ear as he asked, "Who's winning?" He paused dramatically as he held his left hand up for his teammate, and current partner, "That's right, the team of Deeks and Renko..." He trailed off as he tried to form a cutesy name that combined their names, but shrugged, "Yeah, Denko doesn't have the same ring to it as Densi," He glanced at Renko, "Sorry man."
Undercover Operative, Special Agent Mike Renko waved the apology off as he completely understood. He was a temporary partner, a replacement for an irreplaceable wonderful woman and amazing Agent.
"Didn't Kensi threaten to castrate you if she heard you say that couple-ly name again?" Sam asked. His pearly white teeth shined as he grinned. He retrieved the ball from the floor and passed it to Callen. Callen rolled his blue eyes and dribbled the ball twice before retreating to the water cooler at the corner of the gym. The others followed in silent agreement that a water break was overdue.
Once the four men had retrieved their own bottles of filtered water, Renko placed his hand on his chest over his heart as he batted his long dark eyelashes, his blue eyes shining mischievously, "Sam," His tone of voice was high pitched until it lowered to normal as he lost control and laughed, "You make me warm and fuzzy when you say couple-ly."
Marty grinned as he answered Sam's taunting question, "Sure she did, but I'm safe, because obviously she isn't here. She's," He trailed off when he saw Callen give him a warning look. Marty rephrased what he had planned to say, "Her whereabouts are unknown to me, because I do not need to know where she is."
Callen nodded in satisfaction and relief, because if it were made known that he had unofficially read in the Detective in on Kensi's current undercover Operation-a rare one where only she went undercover-it could spell disaster for not only the ones involved, but the entire OSP division.
"Tell me again," Sam rolled his brown eyes and looked at Callen as he asked, "Why we teamed these two idiots together?" He took a gulp of water before he added, "Instead of Dumb and Dumber we got Wise Cracker and Smart Aleck version two. I didn't like the first version, so tell me how am I going to like the second?"
"Because," Callen answered capping his bottle of water, "Kensi would kill us if we killed either one of them," He motioned toward Kensi's current partner then the once upon a time partner from way back when. "And, we know that would be the end game, and well there are those orders from Director Morrow then Director Shepard that still stand about Mike being partnered with either one of us."
Renko flinched, the bottle of water an inch from his lips.
Sam nodded as his grin widened. He snapped his fingers, "That's right, I forgot about that."
Callen snorted in both disbelief and amusement, "Yeah, whatever. I don't believe that for a second." He paused, grinned, and tipped his bottle of water toward Sam as he glanced at Renko, "Those were the days."
"Ooh!" Marty interjected intrigued, "Who's Director Morrow and Shepard? What orders, what days?"
Sam and Callen shared a look before their gazes landed on Renko whom had pursed his lips and crossed his arms, not appreciating the reminder of the several years old orders, when the Office of Special Projects was a fledgling task force that only a handful had known existed. The OSP was born when then Assistant Director, now Director Leon Vance had taken a special interest in the task force.
"Really?" Marty asked, his right eyebrow arched. His blue eyes sparkling in disbelief. "You're not telling me?"
Renko pressed his lips together and firmly shook his head confirming that he would not tell him. He would never utter a word about what had happened in those early days.
"Guys," Marty whined as he stared at Callen and Sam expectantly. "Don't leave me hanging."
"Awe," Sam mocked as he smiled widely, his dimples on showcase, his teeth glistening. "Look G, he's giving us his puppy dog face. Monty would be proud."
Callen smirked and shook his head, but the smirk slipped away as he recognized the true hurt expression that flitted across the younger man's face. It was more than hurt, it was utter disbelief, on the verge of distrust. He would never admit it verbally, but Callen saw some of himself in the Detective. They both thrived undercover, true the entire Unit did, but it was Callen and Deeks who lived there. For reasons that were their own and, at times even they did not know every aspect of those reasons, they preferred undercover aliases and working alone although both were perfectly capable of working as a team with their respective partners and as a team within a larger team.
Callen could not allow the progress that Deeks had made since joining the team, the progress that he, himself, had made with the younger man to disintegrate, because Deeks could not trust that he was trusted. However, neither could he betray a vow he made to a different friend, Renko. So, with that in mind, Callen shrugged in the attempt to play off the seriousness of the matter, "Sorry man, it's classified."
Although, Marty smiled and chuckled, Callen could see that the cop-out of 'classified' was not believed and perhaps it had made the simmering situation worse. Callen tossed Sam the basketball whom caught it and took off down the court. Renko ran after Sam, unsuccessfully attempting to steal the basketball then upon realizing that his attempts were for naught, he tried to block Sam from scoring a point, again unsuccessful.
Marty tossed the half full water bottle unto the ground and turned to jog down the court to join his two friends, but he paused when he heard Callen.
"Hey," Callen said as he, too, tossed his own bottle down, "Deeks," He paused at the Detective's side and watched Renko intentionally foul Sam. "I'm sworn to secrecy about what happened as is Sam, but Mike has never been able to persuade Kensi to do or say anything, so," Callen trailed off.
Marty grinned in understanding, the corners of his blue eyes crinkling. "If I want to know, ask Kensi."
"You said it." Callen grinned as he pointed at Deeks before jogging down the court to break up the play fight that Sam and Renko had started under the basketball net.
Marty pouted in realization that it would be some time before he would be privy to the details of what he wanted to know. He exclaimed as he watched Callen and Renko double team Sam, "Hey! When is Kensi coming back from her super secret assigment?"
"Exact date unknown," Callen answered, distracting him from the improptu sparring session with Sam. Sam used that distraction as an opportunity to execute an arm drag.
"Why?" Renko called out as he backed away from the grappling partners on the floor of the gym. "Want to get rid of me already?"
"Nah," Marty exclaimed as he jogged toward them. When he was standing beside Renko, both men members of the club, I-Was-Bad-Ass-Blye's-Partner. he stated, "I just miss my Sugar Bear."
The End...