A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews! I didn't realize how much I missed writing haha. I'm glad you are all intrigued, guess part of my mission was accomplished!
If you want, I'd love to hear your guesses on who the killer is! You don't think Lucy will be our only suspect, do you? ;)
Oh, and I forgot this on the last chapter
DISCLAIMER: Kensi, Deeks, Callen, Sam, Hetty, Eric, and Nell are sadly not my creation. As if I'm that original!
Deeks shifts closer to Kensi, as if to shield her from the fiery redhead standing above them. Kensi gives him a gentle nudge and he gets the idea, murmuring an apology into her hair before shifting back slightly.
"Nothing interesting," she says sweetly, smiling at Lucy. "Want to sit down?" Lucy chuckles.
"Is there room?" she asks. Without hesitation, Kensi stands up and promptly sits back down in her partner's lap. She can feel his sharp intake of breath and because she likes it, she gathers up her legs in between his and leans her head on his shoulder. His arms go around her and pull her into him. All the while Lucy watches, looking highly amused.
"I thought the retreat was for struggling couples," she says as she sits down. Kensi shrugs, inwardly scolding herself for acting so cozy with someone
"We had a good therapy session. And trust me, he definitely has issues." Deeks hold on her only tightens.
"I got most of them from you, sweetheart," he says, his breath tickling her ear. She gently knocks her head into his. He flinches dramatically.
"I think you two will be just fine," Lucy says with a smile. "So are you dating, or . . . ?"
"We're engaged," Deeks answers. Kensi holds up her hand, revealing the simple diamond ring Hetty had given her.
"It's lovely," Lucy says, holding up her hand which bears an extravagant diamond ring encircled by small emeralds. "My father gave David the money for this. Told him to count it as part of our wedding gift."
"Wow," Kensi breathes, "What does he do to get that kind of money?" Deeks squeezes her gently, his own way of complimenting her subtle approach to interrogating their suspect. Lucy fidgets.
"He's worked hard his whole life," she replies quietly, love for her father clear in her voice. "He's a, uh, businessman." Kensi and Deeks exchange a swift glance.
"Is he retired now?" Deeks asks.
"No," Lucy responds, "Although he deserves to."
"Sounds like a great dad," Kensi says warmly, glancing at Deeks, her eyes screaming MOTIVE MOTIVE MOTIVE. She turns back to face Lucy and feels Deeks' lips against her temple. He agrees. She's going to kill him if he keeps kissing her.
"He is," Lucy murmurs. "So, um Carmen, right? Tell me about yourself. How did you meet Christian?"
"I'm a paralegal," she answers without hesitation.
"Oh? Where?"
"Reed & Lawson. I had been working there for about two months and it was Christian's first day," she begins. Deeks interrupts.
"I was setting my stuff up in my office when I got my first case. Land dispute. Some church thought that this plot of land belonged to them and my client thought otherwise."
"So my boss comes up to me and he says, 'Okay Garcia, show the newbie how it's done.' He points over at Christian's office, which has glass walls, and I," here, Kensi starts laughing for good measure, "I get this amazing view of Christian's ass." She turns around to grin playfully at Deeks, who is staring at her with an adorably awed expression. That bit wasn't a part of their written cover story, but she thought it added a nice touch.
"Sounds like a nice view," Lucy says, tilting her head to examine Deeks. Kensi ignores the possessive leap her stomach does and laughs.
"Oh, it was," she replies dreamily. "Anyways, after seeing that, I agreed."
"So she walks over and just leans against the doorframe," Deeks interjects, taking over, "I turn around, take one look at her, and I say, 'Well, I knew this job had it's perks, but you've gotta be the best one yet.' And when she smiled I knew I was done for." Kensi decides they're being a bit too warm and fuzzy for their cover.
"Too bad you can't keep that feeling going forever,"she whispers. "Working together's more of a curse than a blessing."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asks. Kensi bites her bottom lip.
"I'll tell you why," Deeks says, "Even though she's a paralegal, she is the bossiest woman I know. She makes deprecating jokes so much sometimes I don't even know if she's being serious or not. Even though I'm the lawyer, she looks down on me."
Kensi doesn't know whether she should be angry that Deeks just told their prime suspect something he should have told the therapist or grateful that he is making their cover very, very believable.
"And Christian can't take anything seriously," she says simply. "And he brought up an argument when we were having a perfectly good time. Good job, honey." She practically hisses the end of her sentence, her eyes narrowed.
This is not good. She shouldn't actually be angry at Deeks, who's to say he isn't just trying to maintain their cover? That's how it began after all.
Lucy by now looks extremely uncomfortable. "I'll, um, leave you two to it then." With that, she stands up and walks back towards her husband.
Kensi turns her head to look at Deeks. For a long moment they watch each other, calculating. Finally, Kensi says, "What do you think?"
"You're gonna have to specify-"
"About Lucy." She can't hide the exasperation in her tone and immediately regrets losing her patience when she sees hurt flash across his eyes. "Sorry, Deeks." She murmurs his name, almost whispers it.
"S'Okay, Kens," he whispers, his voice just as low as hers. "I think," he says, his voice rising slightly, changing the subject, "That she loves her dad a lot."
"Enough to kill?"
He considers for a moment. "Maybe." His grip on her tightens again. "She likes you, though. Give it a few days and I think you can get good intel from her."
"Me too," Kensi says, "I actually kinda hope she isn't the killer. She seems nice." Deeks grins.
"But that would make our lives more difficult," he points out. "Honey."
"Touche." She shifts awkwardly. "You gonna let me off?" Deeks grins at her.
"Gotta maintain our cover though," he quips, his grip on her now impossibly tight. Kensi purses her lips, and then suddenly has a spark of brilliance.
Should she? No . . .
Will she? Hell yes.
Ever so slightly, Kensi turns her head towards her smug-looking partner and smirks as his mouth parts slightly. She twists in his arms to face him fully and rests her forehead against his. If she wasn't so intent on getting out of his arms, she would probably be enjoying this far too much (and who's to say she isn't now?) For her own good.
"Deeks," she murmurs silkily, her voice low so that nobody would hear her use of his real name. "Do you know what I want right now?"
"I-um . . ."
"Do you know what I really, really want?" Deeks' breath hitches. Kensi leans closer, closer, until her lips are tantalizingly close to his. He whispers her name, his voice rough.
"Kens . . ."
Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Kensi swings her arms out, dislodging herself from his arms and rolling out of his lap, laughing.
"Sucker!" she snickers joyfully as she sits back up again.
"That was uncalled for, partner," Deeks mutters, picking some sand off the ground and tossing it at her, an adorable pout on his face that almost makes her regret not kissing him.
Kensi stands at the front window of the cabin she and Deeks have to share, just staring at the way the flowers blow in the breeze. She jumps a little when she feels Deeks' arms wrapping around her from behind and pulling her into him.
"You try to kiss my neck Deeks, and I will kill you." He chuckles at that, opting to rest his chin on her shoulder. It tickles Kensi slightly, she's wearing a pink spaghetti strap top and jeans so there's nothing between her shoulder and the course scruff on Deeks' chin.
"I think our cover's safe with this," he says easily. "Anything new on Lucy?"
"Nell emailed me some of her records but besides that, nothing new. We still need to find where Neilson was shot and the murder weapon. Sam and Callen can come in on garbage day and we can give them what we've collected then," Kensi replies.
"So we have two days to find the crime scene and murder weapon."
"Neilson was killed with a thirty eight, so we have that to go by. But yeah, we need to find the actual weapon so we can run ballistics. Police searched all of the buildings and found nothing before we were sent in, so that leaves the wooded area and the lake."
"We can't search the entire lake," Deeks points out.
"No," Kensi relents. "I can e-mail Callen and see if he and Sam can bring some discreet diving gear on garbage day." She pauses for a moment, pondering. "But how can we search the woods?"
"That's easy, babe," Deeks says, nuzzling into her neck, making her laugh and half-heartedly scold him. "We take a hike."
"So the bonfire was on the eastern shore of the lake," Kensi says. "Police say that there were footprints heading into the woods over there." She points to a small dirtpath.
"Looks like our killer took Neilson for a little hike," Deeks says, extending an arm to her. "Shall we?" Kensi rolls her eyes but takes his arm and the two begin walking on the trail together. It's a small dirt path, by the looks of it not used very often. Weeds are scattered through it and it's very bumpy. Kensi finds herself concentrating on simply walking just as much as looking for a crime scene.
"I don't see how breaking any bones helps a marriage," Kensi mutters. Deeks grins.
"I can." She arches an eyebrow.
"Oh? Please, Deeks, enlighten me."
"Let's say you and I are married, hypothetically."
"Hypothetically," Kensi repeats as a warning.
"Yeah, yeah," Deeks waves her off. "And you break a leg."
"Why do I break a leg?" Deeks winks, claiming it has to be her for his plan to be perfect. She rolls her eyes at that but allows him to continue.
"So you're lying in bed, your leg in pain, watching a movie."
"Titanic?" she asks, half wondering why she is playing along with this.
"No, the Avengers." She laughs.
"That movie is still in theaters, Deeks."
"Like Wonder Woman would let that stop her!" he reasons playfully and Kensi laughs, a pleased blush warming her face.
"But why The Avengers and not Titanic?" she asks.
"Because you'd be angry about not being in the field, so you'd watch action flicks to empower yourself."
"I still don't see how this helps our marriage, Deeks." He looks over at her, eyebrows raised and a huge grin on his face. "You know what I mean, Deeks." He laughs and continues.
"You'd be in our bed-" Kensi ignores the little leap her heart makes, "-eating an entire pint of ice cream. I would walk in and snuggle up next to you and because you're so sleepy, you'd wrap your arms around me and we'd share the ice cream."
"Is this an explanation of how broken bones helps a marriage or a fantasy of yours?" Kensi asks. She doesn't like how nice and possible his words sound.
"Bit of both," he quips with a grin. Kensi rolls her eyes but can't help smiling at him.
"Carmen! Christian!" Kensi is taken by surprise and trips over a root that had grown into the path. Deeks catches her and holds her until she regains her balance.
"Thanks," she says quietly. He merely smiles at her.
"It's Sheila Martin," Deeks informs her. Kensi nods in acknowledgment of his statement.
"Hold my hand," she whispers as Sheila approaches. Deeks obliges, giving it a little squeeze.
Sheila jogs down from the path, a bright smile on her face. "Going for a hike too?" she asks. "It's a beautiful day."
"Yes, we wanted to enjoy some private time before our session this afternoon," Kensi replies.
"Oh, well the trail gets kind of bumpy ahead, why don't you come back with me? I can make us some salad and we can chat!" Sheila offers sweetly, her light brown eyes glittering.
"We already had lunch, but thank you for the offer," Deeks answers.
"Oh, but I insist!"
"It's alright," Kensi says, a little firmer this time, "But thank you." Sheila seems to take the hint.
"Oh alright, but I'd come back soon anyways. It's getting hot!" she says reluctantly. With those parting words she jogs off, her ponytail bouncing up and down.
"What do you make of her?" Deeks asks once she's out of earshot. They continue making their way down the path. Kensi thinks for a moment.
"She's a bit too cheerful for my taste," she says honestly, "And she couldn't take a hint." Deeks laughs.
"What, that you wanted some private time with your future hubby?"
"Exactly," Kensi replies sarcastically, pinching his arm. Deeks suddenly stops. "Oh come on Deeks, I did not pinch you that hard." Deeks waves the comment off.
"So, about earlier." Uh-oh.
"Earlier?"
"Our cover story for how we met." Kensi coughs.
"Yeah, what part? Did I mess something up?" Deeks grins cheekily.
"No, not exactly, but you did add something." Kensi heaves a sigh. Here we go.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she bluffs, holding her head high. They continue farther down the trail and Deeks refuses to let it go.
"The way you gushed about my magnificent ass," he teases, "Sounds like testimony that comes from experience."
"You're incorrigible, Deeks."
"So when was it, huh? When did you get to check me out?"
Kensi refuses to tell him about the multiple times she has checked him out, most recently the last time they were undercover when he told her he had his own thing going on. And when he burst in on her after her bath when she had cut her foot. Yeah, she did peek. Big deal.
"Shut up, Deeks."
"I'm not letting this go, partner," he says, his voice comparable to that of a giddy schoolboy.
"Oh yes you are!" she huffs, jogging a bit to get ahead of him. They continue on in silence, him wearing a self-satisfied smirk and her face set in a frown that doesn't quite reach her eyes. Every few minutes he comments on how it's okay if she likes his ass, or if she thinks his abs are better. She finally just begins to ignore him.
"Kens." He's stopped on the path, but she resolutely trudges ahead.
"Kens, I think I just found our crime scene." That stops her. She turns around to look at her partner who is about ten feet behind her.
He points over to a large tree and Kensi's eyes widen. The tree is covered in what appears to be dried blood.
The two make their way over to the tree and Deeks removes his backpack. Inside it are his crime scene tools- blood stain spray, evidence tags, and his camera to name a few.
Deeks snaps a picture of the bloodstain on the base of the tree.
"Looks like he was left here for a while before being moved," Kensi says. "Maybe the killer shot him then returned to the party."
"Celebrate good times, come on," Deeks half-hums. Kensi elbows him.
"Collect blood samples to send to the lab," she says.
"Hey Kens, look at this." Deeks points at the tree trunk. Kensi stands up from her crouched position and peers at where Deeks points.
"A bullet hole," she breathes.
"Looks like our killer shot and missed."
"So he or she doesn't have much experience, which means they likely were not hired."
Kensi continues looking around, collecting and bagging grass, leaves, and twigs, hoping there's still some DNA present. She manages to find a small pink bead, looks like it comes from a necklace or bracelet of some kind.
"Kens, we'll have to finish this later," Deeks says, snapping one last picture. She looks up at him.
"Why?" she asks. She wants to finish what she started and she's worried about evidence getting corrupted. Deeks grins.
"Our therapy session starts in twenty minutes."
"So, in our last session, I suggested that you two try to talk things out. Communication is key. Have you two done any talking?"
"Yes," Kensi answers as Deeks says, "No."
The therapist raises her eyebrows. "Why do you say no, Mr. Clarke?" Kensi looks challengingly at Deeks, who avoids her angry gaze.
"Because her definition of 'talking' is her ranting and me listening," he responds sullenly, finally looking forlornly at Kensi. "Or bringing up our issues in front of a complete stranger." Kensi's mouth opens in outrage. It was just a part of their cover, Deeks had to know that.
"You do not have the right to complain about me talking too much," she huffs, turning to the therapist, "See what I have to deal with here?"
"And you say I always deflect the conversation back to myself," Deeks mutters. "But you know what the real problem is? She always has to be in charge."
"What?" Kensi hisses.
"First through the door, always has to drive, has to dictate the pace in our relationship-"
"You're being ridiculous."
"But wait, there's more!" Deeks adds, his voice rising.
"Are you kidding me?"
"If we're in trouble, it's her who decides what to do. She always has to pick out the movies we watch and oh, when we go to dinner? Her choice! It's always her her her!"
"Alright you two," the therapist cuts in, "I want to try something."
Kensi and Deeks sigh loudly before leaning back in their chairs, staring at opposite ends of the room. The therapist stands and walks over to her desk, pulling out a plain white sheet of paper before coming back to them and sitting back in her chair.
"See this sheet of paper?" she begins.
"Yes," Deeks says.
"Shut up," Kensi mutters, annoyed still.
The therapist continues as if they had said nothing at all. "This piece of paper represents something important in your relationship. I'd like you to think, silently, for a moment on what this paper means to you. It can be anything in the world, except your engagement or kids, which you don't have so that won't be an issue."
Oh God, kids.
The mere mention of kids and the idea of kids with Deeks sends Kensi's mind whirling, and she's tempted to run out of the building now.
The therapist looks Deeks in the eye. "Christian, do you understand?" He nods. She turns to Kensi. "Carmen, do you understand?" She nods. "Now you two, look each other in the eye."
For a moment, Kensi keeps her eyes downcast, biting her bottom lip. God, why did Callen have to send her here with Deeks? This would be so much easier with him or Sam, hell, even Eric. It wouldn't have to be so damn real.
Slowly, she lifts her gaze up to look Deeks in the eye. He stares back at her evenly and gives her the tiniest of nods, as if reassuring her it was okay. She nods back, fighting the urge to look away.
The therapist picks up the piece of paper and holds it over the small round table that separates her large leather chair from Kensi and Deeks' couch.
"Okay, now both of you stand on either side of the table. When you're in place, look back in each others' eyes." Kensi gratefully breaks their staredown and stands up, getting into place as Deeks shuffles tot he opposite side. Taking a deep breath, Kensi looks back up to Deeks' bright blue eyes.
"Take this piece of paper with one hand, holding it in the center." Kensi reaches out and takes the side of the paper. Deeks does so a second after her. The therapist lets go of the paper, leaving it being held between them, and sits down in her chair. "Keep thinking about that important thing."
Oh, right, that.
Kensi racks her mind for something important, something significant from her rela-no, partnership with Deeks. Something meaningful, something that defined who they were as partners and how they worked.
Twinkies.
Oh God, is that really the best she could come up with? Kensi wants to slap herself and come up with something better, something from the bottom of her soul.
She's got nothing. Twinkies it is.
"Do you both have something in mind?" Kensi sighs and nods, suddenly remembering that she is still staring into her partner's eyes. He holds her gaze steadily as he too nods. "Good. Now, I'm going to give you two five minutes to decide who gets the paper without ripping or tearing it. You can do this with or without talking, but in my experience this works better without words."
This could be a problem.
Well, thinking realistically, Kensi knows she should have it. That's how their thing works, he gives her Twinkies and she . . . what does she do? She says thank you (sometimes) or she takes them anyways . . . jeez, this makes her sound like a bad person in retrospect, but that's just how they are. She's decided she gets the piece of paper.
He raises an eyebrow. Shoot, he wants it too. Typical Deeks.
By habit, she almost says his real name, but she catches herself. "Christian . . ." Her whisper is soft, but he's heard it before. Fine, new approach.
"Carmen . . ." Cheeky bastard.
They begin a subtle war with their eyes, a staredown that Kensi knows she cannot and will not lose. She will get her Twinkie.
"Four minutes."
Has a minute passed already? Come on Deeks, she thinks, just give me the damn paper.
"Carmen, just this once," he whispers. Pleading, soft. Oh no, he is so not playing that card on her. Kensi Blye does not fall for cute and cuddly. "I'll buy you more donuts when we get home."
"I don't want more donuts." Well that's a lie. "I want the paper."
"What if I say please?"
She shakes her head, and the staredown continues. Kensi almost feels dizzy from staring into his eyes for so long, but she refuses to lose focus. Treat it like a mission, she tells herself, use your skills.
Except this isn't a mission. This is her and Deeks. Their thing.
And this stupid retreat was a bad idea. For a fleeting moment, Kensi decides to just walk out. This therapist doesn't know her. Doesn't know them. Doesn't know about Jack or how Deeks was shot to target her or how he lied to her about shooting an unarmed man or about the way his lips felt when she kissed him while undercover. She has no right to try and figure out their thing.
Deeks can see it in her eyes and she inwardly curses him for knowing her so well.
"Don't shut down on me," he whispers, an unsaid Kens hanging in the air between them. Kensi reluctantly stays rooted in place, still determined to get her Twinkie.
"Why can't I have it?" Deeks asks. Kensi rolls her eyes.
"It's not how we work."
That sounds so wrong. Is this really how they look to other people? Her, the demanding trainer and Deeks her little lapdog? No, he is not her lapdog. He is her partner.
And as her partner, he should give her the Twinkie.
"I think you should give me the paper."
"No!"
"One minute."
Okay, no more messing around. Kensi Blye wants her Twinkie and by God, she is going to get it.
"You're not giving in, are you?" Deeks asks softly, frowning.
"No," she whispers back.
"Wouldn't expect you to,"he mutters, relinquishing his hold on the piece of paper. Despite the victory, Kensi can't bring herself to smile.
Little bit of trivia, that paper exercise is from an actual couples' counselor that I found online. Fascinating and fun for me as well, writing how Kensi and Deeks react to this kind of exercise.
Keep reviewing! I probably won't be able to update for the next couple of days because my cousin is in town and I won't be home, so I hope this holds you over.
If you want updates on my writing process and previews of chapters before I post them, check out my Tumblr- just type in garnetgivealittlelove. Adios for now!
-Gab
