This is a one shot that popped into my head when I stumbled upon a picture of a younger ECO while looking for information for another story. I needed to get the hamster off the wheel, so here it is. It ends before Deeks goes on assignment, just meant it to be what happens leading up to it. Don't own NCIS:LA, its characters or pretty much anything else.
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Deeks felt like someone was watching him. He looked up from his laptop where he had been engrossed in finishing up some paperwork, to find Hetty Lange staring at him. He yelped and jumped backwards in his chair. He glanced at his teammates, wondering if they had seen their ninja boss sneaking up on him. Based on the smirks on their faces, they had, indeed, watched Hetty stalk him. He narrowed his eyes at them, silently promising retribution for not giving him a heads up.
"Can I see you in my office, Mr. Deeks?" Hetty turned and walked out of the bullpen without waiting for an answer. He got up and followed her. While she had phrased it as a question, there was no doubt it was an order. As he moved through the bullpen, he mouthed at Kensi "Am I in trouble?" She raised her eyebrows and shrugged, not having any idea what was going on. He looked at Callen and then at Sam but both men were studiously avoiding eye contact, pretending to work on their laptops. Neither of them wanted to get dragged into whatever trouble Deeks had gotten himself into.
"Please sit, Mr. Deeks. Tea?" she asked once he was standing in front of her desk. He relaxed, if Hetty was offering him tea, he couldn't be in much trouble. Could he? He sat and accepted the cup she held out to him. "You've kept up with your California attorney's license, correct?" she asked once he was settled. He nodded an affirmative. "How long would it take you to learn enough naval law to fool people for a few days?"
"Now." he replied.
Her eyebrows shot up as she asked "Isn't that a bit overconfident?"
He laughed and told her "I've been studying naval law since I started at NCIS, Hetty. I figured I should know what I could and couldn't get away with when dealing with naval personnel."
She smiled widely at him, thinking this was why she had been so eager to get the young man in front of her on Callen's team. "That is very good to hear, Mr. Deeks, as it makes you uniquely qualified for an assignment that has just come up. We have been approached by a Lt. Colleen Johnson, an attorney at JAG. Evidence has gone missing and information leaked to defendant's attorneys on several cases and she fears someone inside the JAG office at Camp Pendleton is behind it. We'd like you to go undercover as a naval attorney to see if you can determine if there is any validity to her concerns and, if so, who and why. You would be going in as a Lieutenant Commander."
Hetty sat back and watched her favorite cop. It didn't take long for the realization to hit him of what he would have to do to pull this off. She knew the exact moment it did, when his left hand wandered up to his hair. He looked at her wide eyed. "You wouldn't make me do that, would you Hetty?"
She sighed and told him "I can't force you to accept this assignment Mr. Deeks. You aren't an agent. However, you are the only person qualified to take on this assignment immediately. Getting anyone else up to speed would take weeks. During that time, more evidence will go missing, more people will escape punishment. You cannot go undercover on this, looking as you do now." He opened and closed his mouth several times but nothing came out. Finally he slumped in his chair and she knew he had accepted his fate.
She looked over his shoulder at the bullpen. His teammates were trying hard to figure out what was going on without looking like they were trying. They were not succeeding. She looked back at the dejected young man in front of her. He had always told them his shaggy locks and scruffy beard were maintained for his undercover work but she suspected there was more to it than that. A glimmer of an idea presented itself. "Would you like to have some fun with this, Mr. Deeks?"
He looked up at her questioningly and she nodded towards the bullpen. He turned around to catch his teammates watching them. They all immediately swung around and pretended to be hard at work. Turning back, he asked "What did you have in mind?"
"Go back to your desk. Don't discuss this assignment with anyone. You need to get to a barber tonight, so make an excuse to leave, in enough time, to get it done. Come in early tomorrow morning and we will start the ball rolling." He grinned at her, beginning to catch on to what she was suggesting. It almost made up for having to cut his hair and shave his beard, almost. He nodded, got up and headed back to his desk.
Once he was seated, Kensi whispered to him "What was that all about? Are you in trouble?"
Both Callen and Sam looked up to hear the answer. "Nope. It was just some paperwork that needed clarification." She seemed disappointed, perhaps hoping for some excitement to break up what was turning into a long boring day of paperwork and more paperwork. He suppressed a grin and they all went back to work.
Later in the afternoon, he got up and started to pack up his stuff. "Where are you going Shaggy?" Sam asked.
"Just got an email requesting I come downtown to see Lt. Bates. I have to clear up the same paperwork with him as I did with Hetty this morning." he grumbled back, making a show of being put out over having to go to the precinct to meet with his other boss. "I most likely won't make it back here tonight. See you all tomorrow?" They all nodded and wished him a good night as he started out of the bullpen.
Kensi grabbed his arm as he walked by her desk. "How are you going to get there? We came in together this morning, remember?"
Thinking quickly he replied "Bates is sending a squad car by to pick me up, then they'll drop me off at home." She frowned but nodded and whispered for him to call her later. She had a feeling there was something more to this meeting with Bates and she wasn't happy about it. He agreed to call and continued his way out of the Mission. Walking by Hetty's office, their eyes met and both had a hard time not laughing.
Getting into the NCIS issued car Hetty had given him the keys for earlier, he sat for a moment. He was glad tonight was one of the nights he and Kensi were taking off from their relationship. It worked out perfectly that they would have come to work in separate cars the next morning any way. He sat, trying to psych himself up for what he was about to do. Starting the car, he pointed it at Harry's Barbershop. He would need to get this over with as soon as possible or he might not be able to go through with it.
When he walked into the barbershop, Harry started on him like he always did. "When are you going to let me do more than trim that mop on your head? You have wonderful hair. I could do so many different things with it!"
Deeks looked at him sadly and said "How about today?"
Harry was ecstatic until Deeks told him what cut he wanted. "Why? Why do you want a military style hair cut? Why shave off the beard when I can just neaten it up?"
Sighing, Deeks replied "At a ladies request."
Harry grinned and said "Ah, what we do for the ladies in our lives!" Deeks didn't bother to correct him.
Once seated, he closed his eyes and kept them closed. He could hear the scissors as they cut the curls off his head. He had told Harry short, but not a buzz cut. That would have been more than he could take. Finished with his hair, Harry moved the chair into the recline position and began on the beard. Deeks had decided on the way over that he'd let Harry do it instead of shaving it himself. Get it all over and done with at once. Harry finished and moved him back to the upright position, taking the protective cape off at the same time.
Steeling himself, he opened his eyes and looked at the man in the mirror. He slammed them shut again. The man looking back was all too familiar except it wasn't him. His mother and father had both been blue eyed blondes. He had inherited his mom's leaner build and softer blue eyes but the shape of his face, the nose, the jawline, the ears were all HIM. The visage in the mirror was that of his old man. He got out of the chair fast, paid Harry and hurried out the door. Once in the car, he tried to get his breathing under control. Just because he looked like his dad, didn't mean he was him. His dad had been a mean sloppy drunk but had had a fetish about having short neat hair and a clean shaven face. His startling resemblance to his father was the real reason he normally kept his hair and beard the way they had been until just now.
Starting the car, he headed for home. Once inside his apartment, he avoided all reflective surfaces, not ready to see his new look again, not just yet. He called Kensi as he had promised and assured her he wasn't in trouble with LAPD, that he wasn't going on some undercover operation with them. He would be in the next day per usual.
He ate his dinner in front of the television, hoping that she wouldn't show up on his doorstep as she sometimes did on their "off" nights. She would get bored on her own and show up to watch a movie, making sure to head home to sleep. In her estimation, that still qualified as giving them their alone time. As the night progressed, she didn't show up but did text him several times, asking what he was doing, telling him what she was doing, which was nothing. He could hear the boredom in her words but she made it through without giving in to the urge to head over to his place or ask him to come to her.
The next morning he arrived at the Mission ahead of everyone else. Hetty, of course, had beaten him in and had laid out an officer's naval dress blues, complete with cap and shoes, for him. He didn't see her around so picked up the clothes and went into the changing room. As always, the fit was perfect. He had no idea how she did it. He waited to look in the mirror until he was completely dressed. When he did, his jaw dropped. Damn, he was hot! The uniform and cap detracted from his resemblance to his dad and made it easier on him. Walking out of the changing room, he found Hetty waiting for him. Her mouth dropped open but she said nothing. Deeks was thrilled that he had struck the unflappable Henrietta Lange speechless. When she found her voice again Hetty nodded approvingly and said "You clean up very well, Mr. Deeks, very well indeed! Oh, this should be fun!" She clapped her hands.
They moved into her office space and he sat facing her. While waiting on the rest of team to come in to start the day, they talked about the case, making some plans that would be fleshed out when the rest of the team was briefed in. Nell and Eric were the first to arrive. They looked curiously at the obvious naval officer seated in front of Hetty but just wished her good morning as they headed up to Ops. As they moved up the staircase both looked over, hoping to get a good look at his face as they hit that part of the stairway that gave them the best vantage point. Just at that moment, Hetty made sure to point something out to Deeks and have him turn his head away as if looking at what she was pointing at. Disappointed, they continued up the stairs and out of sight. Hetty and Deeks exchanged a grin.
When they heard Sam and Callen coming in, Hetty had Deeks stand up with his back to the bullpen while continuing to talk with him. Both agents stopped short when they saw the naval officer standing in front of Hetty, his back to them, he and Hetty apparently in deep discussion. No one outside NCIS was supposed to be in the Mission. No one was even supposed to know where it was. Something was up.
They walked to their desks and put their bags down. Sam sat but Callen remained standing, thinking hard. He was just about to head to her office to find out what was going on, when Kensi arrived. She, too, looked at the back of the man in Hetty's office, her expression one of shock. Coming over to the two men she asked "Who IS that? Why is someone outside of NCIS being allowed in here?"
Sam and Callen both replied at the same time. "We don't know."
Callen started towards the office, with the intention of asking just those questions, when Eric appeared at the upstairs railing and whistled for their attention. "We've got a case!" and then disappeared back into Ops.
The three agents headed towards the staircase. Sam leaned down and asked Kensi "Where's Deeks? He's late. Hetty is going to be pissed if he misses a briefing without a damn good reason!"
She shrugged her shoulders and pulled out her cellphone to text Deeks so he would know he was in trouble. She hadn't seen his car in his normal parking space or anywhere else in the lot, so knew he wasn't in yet. As they moved up the stairs to Ops, all three tried to catch a look at the officer's face, just like Nell and Eric had. Once again, Hetty was able to get Deeks to turn away at the right moment so that they continued to see just the back of his head. Frustrated, the three went into Ops where they immediately started grilling the wonder twins about the man downstairs. Unfortunately for them, both techies were as much in the dark as they were.
Once the team was out of sight, the two co-conspirators shared a laugh. The next few minutes were going to be great fun. Finally allowed to turn away from Hetty's desk, the two of them started for the staircase. A female junior agent from one of the other teams happened to be walking by at that moment. Meeting Deeks's eyes she got a glazed look in her own. As he moved past her, she looked back to watch him, walking smack into the wrought iron divider surrounding the bullpen. She looked around quickly to see if anyone had witnessed her face plant. Relieved to see no one had noticed, she moved on but the sparkling blue eyes, full of laughter, and the handsome face they sat in, remained in her head, popping up at random times during the day, making her smile.
Up in Ops, they had just decided to use the cameras in the Mission to try to find out who the unknown man was, when the door to Ops slid open again. Hetty walked in with the man in question trailing behind her. Five pairs of eyes immediately locked onto him. Each thought the man looked familiar but couldn't place him. "Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Lt. Cmdr. Peter Burton. He is a JAG attorney and will be assisting us with this case at Camp Pendleton." Kensi looked hard at the man in front of them and felt her heart skip a beat, something that organ usually did only when Deeks was in the room. Meeting his eyes she couldn't speak. This was her Deeks but not her Deeks. She was unsure if she liked the change. Yes, he was even more handsome, standing there in his uniform, but it just wasn't the Deeks she was used to. Then he smiled and winked at her. She started to laugh quietly, realizing that keeping his face away from the team downstairs had been meant to drive all of them crazy and it had worked. Now she watched to see how the rest of the team reacted.
It took the others longer to figure out who was standing in front of them. When he finally said "It's nice to meet all of you. I'm looking forward to working with NCIS." Nell gasped and looked at Kensi. A big smile appeared on her face when Kensi nodded. Eric looked at her in confusion. She mouthed "Deeks!" at him and watched his face go slack. She giggled, moving Sam and Callen's attention away from Deeks and onto her. She just smiled and pretended to not know what they were silently asking her.
Turning back, Sam said "I know you from somewhere."
Deeks laughed and said "Ya think? Maybe because we've known each other six years, Sam?"
Sam sputtered "You, I, how…?" and then started laughing. "I never thought I would see the day when Shaggy showed up in a uniform with no curls or beard. It's a good look for you, little brother!"
Deeks huffed out a "Don't get used to it! It's going to grow back as soon as this case is over!"
Callen looked Deeks up and down, silently agreeing with his partner that Deeks looked good but only said "Great, now we're going to have to listen to his whining about cutting his hair and shaving his beard!"