A/N: Thank you for all the awesome support for this story! Given that I hadn't really put a lot of thought into it, it took my hugely by surprise, thanks a lot!

ucialum85: I had honestly not thought about Sam's behavior, but after you pointed it out I've decided to keep him... nice (weird I know!). Thanks for the input!

As I mentioned in the author notes in chapter 1, I am NOT finished with Minerva Precisions for all writing about that, I have a finished chapter ready to upload back at my desktop PC, but since it has not synchronized with my laptop I am unable to access that file currently, and I do not want to rewrite the chapter. It will be uploaded as soon as I step foot back in my apartment! :)


The three weeks were up and Kensi was now waiting to pick up her upcoming partner from the airport. Heavy winds had delayed the plane that Deeks was on, leaving a restless Kensi now pacing in front of the arrivals gate at LAX. Of course she had not seen the text he had sent stating his delay before arriving at the airport, and with the traffic it would not have been feasible to return home before coming back to pick him up, which meant that more than two hours spent at the airport, alone.

Finally seeing the man she had been waiting for pass through the last security check. The moment he laid eyes on her, a smile grew on his face, which sucked out all the air in her lungs. How someone who she had not known for more than a month, and not even spent more than a day with, could have such an effect on her was driving her mad. A grown woman is definitely not supposed to crush on anyone like that, much less a federal agent on their now partner.

But just look at him, she thought to herself. Since he no longer was part of the military, he was not required to travel in his uniform, which let him wear what he was now. A nice form fitting polo shirt, just tight enough to see the tone of his muscles through the layer of fabric, and those tight washed out jeans which should definitely be criminalised for being unfair towards every other man in the building. Oh yes, Kensi Blye was in big trouble.

"Welcome home, Sergeant!" Kensi chirped in a little too enthusiastic voice.

"That's Master Sergeant to you," he said playfully and winked, then continued, "Besides, technically I'm a civilian now, no need for all the formalities."

"That must be weird, huh?" She asked, "How long were you enlisted?"

"Just about sixteen years. I signed up the day I turned eighteen." He responded. Kensi did notice that there seemed to be more behind just wanting to serve his country as a reason to join, but decided against pursuing that line of questioning until she had gotten to know him better, and he seemed thankful at leaving the subject at that.

The drive through LA traffic was surprisingly relaxing, even with Kensi's… adventurous driving etiquette. Just as it had three weeks prior in the bar, the conversation flowed nice and freely, they were both laughing when recalling humorous situations suspects had found themselves in. Deeks retold a story from when he was definitely not in Yemen, where a suspect had incriminated himself and attempted to make a run for it. In the attempt he tried carjacking what turned out to be one of the QRF vehicles in the area, so when he opened the door and stared at five very serious, very angry soldiers who stared back, he passed out.

When they pulled up to Deeks' apartment the hour ride had seemed more like fifteen minutes, and they both hesitated a bit before the former Master Sergeant got out of the vehicle. He grabbed his bags from the trunk and leaned in through the passenger side window, which she had rolled down.

"Thanks for picking me up Kensi. I really appreciated it." His smile letting her know just how much he truly meant his words.

"You're, uhm, you're welcome," she surprised herself. Why was she nervous, it wasn't like she had just dropped off a date or anything, no, this was her colleague.

Seemingly catching on to her nervousness, he decided to save her from further incriminating herself to the reddening of her collarbone and cheeks, "Anyways, I'll catch you at work Monday, right?" And just like that he turned around, wanting to save her from the embarrassment of having no answer, and also to hide the fact that he, too, was reacting to the awkwardness between them.

"Deeks wait!" She yelled over the roof of the car, haven gotten out of her SRX.

He stopped and turned around to look at her, she seemed so insecure and he caught himself wondering where that confident agent he had met at the boatshed was hidden.

"I was just wondering if you, uhm, if you'd like to meet up sometime during the weekend." She took a breath, knowing she was sort of asking him out, but not wanting to commit fully to the thought she added, "You know, get to know each other better before working together." She added a shy smile. Hopefully he would be able to see and hear the underlying tone in her question.

The response came immediately, "I'd like that a lot." And just as such, she was awarded with the most captivating smile she had ever seen. This scruffy man was sure to be the end of her. "Sunday good for you? I still have quite a few things to take care of seeing as I'm permanently back home."

"Sunday is good." She confirmed, and the shy smile she had been donning had turned into a fully-fledged one, a smile that softened the knees in the otherwise hard military man, who stood on the opposite side of the car.

"I'll see you Sunday, then." He smiled and turned around, once more heading towards his apartment.

She got back into the car, but did not start it right away. Had she really just asked her future co-worker and partner on a faux date? He was an operator, and according to Hetty, and the fact that he had been part of SOG, one of the best around, of course he would have picked up on her blush and the change in tone when she asked him. Shaking her head she started the car, but the smile never left her face on the drive home to her own place.

...

Saturday came around and as usual Deeks was up at first light. A childhood filled with surfing and an adulthood filled with various military units had him on an early internal clock. Despite being up at what many would consider an abysmal time, he felt like the day had too few hours in it. He spent it running errands, purchasing groceries, general cleaning and venting out his apartment amongst other things. When he finally went to sleep in the freshly made bed, it was well past midnight, and he sighed, knowing his internal clock would have him up bright and early in a few hours.

Kensi's day had not been much easier, although she really did not have any errands to run or chores to do, besides the usual cleaning which could always be put off until… later. She had not been able to get a lot of sleep, sirens passing by her apartment had woken her during the night, and her jumbled thoughts running through her head did not allow for her to fall back asleep. Replaying what had happened outside Deeks' apartment over and over. She tried turning off her thoughts in the evening by watching some mindless television, but even her usual de-stressor had almost no effect. When her thoughts rummaging finally subsided and sleep grasped at her it was well past midnight.

...

He had called her and they agreed that she would pick him up, seeing as he still did not have a vehicle yet, and would not be able to pick up his rental before Monday morning. An hour before the agreed upon time Kensi started to ready herself, after exiting her shower and drying off she found herself in another dilemma, what to wear. It all came back to whether or not this was just a friendly dinner or something more the likes of an actual date.

She decided on some close fitting jeans, a black bottom through shirt, and a pair of flat bottom shoes. Thinking it seemed to be nicely in between friendly wear and how one would dress up for a date.

Having that sorted she locked off her apartment and got into her Caddy, making sure that even if the traffic was even more awful than usual, she would still be able to make it to his apartment in decent time.

As she pulled up to his apartment complex she had no idea that he had gone through the exact same dilemma as she had. Walking up the stairs, towards his door, she did a one-over of herself ensuring that the car ride to his complex did not somehow magically ruin her outfit.

She only managed to knock once before the door swung open, and in front of her stood the man who could somehow conjure butterflies in her stomach instantaneously. The shaggy haired man stood in front of her, and the first thing she noticed was the prize winning smile she would later find he specifically saved just for her. She let her gaze drift over him, she knew it was quite rude but looking up she found him doing the same to her.

Her eyes darted from the ocean blue eyes and the scruffy face to his chest, he was wearing a white v-neck t-shirt with a light grey blazer. She continued letting her eyes drift and saw his dark skinny jeans, finishing off the outfit with a pair of black loafers. Again not so fancy that one would instantly assume that it was for a date, but not so casual that it was guaranteed to be for meeting a friendly acquaintance.

"Wow." He muttered under his breath, obviously having finished letting his gaze drift over her.

She smiled appreciative and repaid the compliment, "You don't look too bad there yourself."

He offered her his arm and she took it without any thoughts as they made their way back to her SRX.

Unlike the last ride they had together, this one was filled with comfortable silence, neither saying anything, afraid of letting the other know how nervous they each were. Because after all, this was not really a date, right? And seeing as it was definitely not a date, there would be no reason to be nervous.

They were seated at a table at a quaint Italian restaurant, nothing too fancy but not exactly the local burger shack either. Conversation was once again flowing freely, and Kensi did not think she had laughed that much in a very, very long time, her sides were in absolute stitches and her jaw was sore from all the laughing.

When their meal was finished, including dessert as Kensi had demanded, they made their way back to the car and eventually all the way back to Deeks' apartment complex. They both sat in the car willing the evening not to end, neither not wanting to open the doors of the vehicle that would ensure the conclusion to their outing.

Sensing his own and her unwillingness, Deeks turned towards her and spoke softly, "I really enjoyed this evening… whatever it was." Chuckling at the last bit, he, too, had sensed the uncertainty surrounding the reasoning behind the time together.

She took at deep breath, dealing with emotions was not her strong point, talking about them was almost completely out of the question. But knowing that he had opened the door for her to clarify exactly what this evening was to her, she took a leap of faith. Hoping that she had sensed correctly, she almost whispered the word, "Date."

Judging by the wide smile that she had come to love spread across his face, he had obviously heard what she uttered under her breath. Never one to not push a situation, he could not help himself, "Sorry what was that?" Gesturing behind him to the otherwise empty parking lot, he continued, "I just… couldn't hear you for all the traffic, and I think there was a siren as well and…"

"You're an idiot." She interrupted his rant laughingly.

Chuckling, he just raised eyebrows and cocked his head ever so slightly at hear. Waiting for an actual response.

"A date, it was a date." She was pretty sure she was blushing by now.

He nodded, glad she had confirmed what he had heard, more for her own sake than him. But he also knew the complications a relationship could bring to a unit, or in this case a partnership.

She looked him in the eyes, and it was as if she could read him like an open book. She sensed his uncertainty about the fact that it was, indeed, a date as he suspected. Wanting to clear any doubts he might have, she asked, "So where does that leave us then?"

"What do you mean?"

"With work. Where does that leave us?" She clarified.

"We need to keep anything separate." He stated softly but firmly. When she nodded in agreement he continued, "And I don't think we should mention any of this to anyone at work either."

She cocked her head, asking him silently to clarify his reasoning behind that statement.

He took a moment to ponder the silent question, and spoke from experience when he found words for an answer, "They don't need any additional reasons to doubt us, other than we're new to working together. If it works, great, and if it doesn't we need to see where our…" he cleared his throat, "relationship goes. If we can't work together because of it, I will leave the team since I'm not that invested in it yet."

Looking into his eyes, she saw nothing but sincerity, but she stayed silence for quite a while, contemplating everything he had just said. He wanted to give the two of them a fighting chance, both at work and with this thing they obviously had. She knew it was not against the rules to date a co-worker, she had checked that the second she suspected the two teammates from OPS were having mutual feelings for one another. I still scared her though, as a rule she generally did not do feelings well, but perhaps, for once, rules were made to be broken.

Nodding slightly, agreeing with her internal sentiment that she could break her self imposed rule, she softly agreed with him, "Okay."

She found herself wanting to constantly agree with him if it meant him flashing that brilliant smile of his more often, seemingly managing to lighten the dark car completely.

He leaned in ever so slightly, "Would it be okay, if I…?"

She smiled lightly and nodded her acceptance, and he leaned in. Softly placing his lips on hers, nothing heated about the moment, but a promise on his lips that they were going to give this a chance, that they both wanted this thing. Leaning back she looked into his blue orbs and saw no doubts, only passion and wanting. Likewise he looked into her beautiful, brown, mismatched eyes and saw the same expression reflected there.

Clearing his throat, effectively breaking the spell that seemed to have been cast upon the two in the Cadillac, he motioned towards the stairs at his apartment, "I guess I better go before anything else happens. I want this to work, but I want to do this slowly."

She could not stop herself from letting a little bit of mischief shine through, teasing him, "Slow can be good sometimes." Ending that statement with a smirk and a wink.

He brought his lips to hers once more, just long enough for it not to chaste before he broke it. "Now I definitely need to leave before something happens."

She nodded at him, he was right of course, taking this slow would be important for it to work, both in and outside of work.

He opened the door and stepped out, leaning on the roof and door, "Goodnight, Kens."

"Goodnight, Marty."

...

If there was any awkwardness the following morning it was blamed on the fact that it is bound to happen when partnering up with a new member. Especially with an outsider coming to join the team in the way that Marty Deeks had.

The day had been an extremely slow one, no pressing cases left the team handling paperwork. The optimism that Deeks had prior to showing up given that since he had not been part of the team before he would not have any paperwork to fill out from their missions, had promptly been destroyed by the tiny operations manager, who had procured countless documents for him to read over, sign, and fill out in regards to him starting with the team.

Finally able to see the light at the end of the paper hell of a tunnel the team had travelled through, they all started packing. Surprisingly, it was Sam who broke the silence.

"So… dinner everyone?" He nodded towards Deeks, "Celebrate the newest addition to the team."

This caught the team lead by surprise, usually his partner was not this forth coming in welcoming new members to the team 'temps' as he would generally call them. He pushed it to the back of his mind, reasoning that perhaps it was because Deeks was a battle proven military man rather than a green agent straight out of FLETC, choosing to ignore the fact that not every temporary agent they had, had been completely green.

Everyone happily agreed, Kensi went upstairs to ask the two Deeks had already dubbed the 'Wonder Twins' from the stories he had been told about different missions, who also happily agreed.

The dinner was had at a burger joint Callen seemed to favour, claiming that they did not skimp on the bacon, which just caused his partner to lecture him about eating healthy, a discussion that seemed to be occurring at least on a bi-weekly basis. If anyone noticed that the newest member of the team and his partner were even more chummy with each other than last team outing, no one mentioned it.

Everyone said their goodbyes just before ten and split up. Deeks noticed that Kensi seemed to hang back ever so slightly. He copied her movement, and as such they were alone in the parking lot after all their teammates had left for their homes.

Through his protests of it being messy, albeit not really, she invited herself over to his place to watch a movie, claiming that she was not tired enough to go home and sleep just yet. They did just that, and Deeks was thoroughly surprised when the tough special agent chose Titanic as her movie to watch. They both sat down on the couch and as the movie progressed, they slowly gravitated towards each other. When the credits were rolling, Kensi was leaning her head on the shoulder of Deeks and he was snaking his arm around her shoulders.

...

The following days continued with an overflow of paperwork and no cases. The evenings spent at his apartment watching mindless television or a random movie, not really discussing anything going on between them, both contempt to keep their promise to one another to take things slow.

Friday brought their first real case since the expansion of the team. Following the leads of the murdered Petty Officer led them to a shady bar, Callen and Sam were about to enter and flash their badges to get any information, but Deeks insisted on letting him go in, partially because he knew none of the patrons would be inclined to talk to anyone within law enforcement and partially because he wanted to showcase some of his skills. Shrugging his shoulders, the team lead agreed and handed him an ear wig to keep contact whilst he was in there.

As he walked towards the bar, the three teammates watched as his whole demeanor changed. He suddenly had a slight limp and he slouched ever so slightly, hiding the straight stride he usually carried himself by. Listening through their coms, they also noted the change in accent and speech pattern he implemented inside. Not even five minutes after entering he came out with a name of the guy the Petty Officer had been with last evening, and both the team lead and his partner found themselves being thoroughly impressed with what they had just witnessed. Also Kensi seemed very impressed as he entered the passenger side of her car, he just smiled at her and shrugged it off.

The guy whose name Deeks had procured at the bar ended up being the one who had committed the murder, and with an easy confession at the hands of the navy SEAL, the case was officially closed the same day it started.

Hetty studied her team as they returned to the bullpen. Deeks was laughing and teasing his teammates about already having a higher conviction rate at NCIS than his teammates. They took it in stride, throwing back humorous insults that bore no weight either. Somehow the Master Sergeant had already flawlessly melded into the team, not a small feat, the operations manager thought to herself.