I still don't own NCIS Los Angeles. If I did, there would be more personal interactions between all the character, not just cases.
One reviewer made a comment about Callen and Deeks being OOC in this story and the reviewer is right, but this is the way the story came to me, so just realize that all of the characters in this one may be so. Reviews are always welcome.
Enjoy.
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After taking some of his anger out on the heavy bag, Marty was dragging. He was still angry, but too tired to work out any more so as soon as Hetty had told him she was sending everyone home early, he left OSP, went home, dragged himself into bed and didn't wake up until the next morning. Saturday was a beautiful summer day, but Marty wasn't able to enjoy it because he was sick. He thought to himself "Can this month get any worse! I have another damned sinus infection!" He tried surfing but he just didn't have the energy necessary to enjoy himself. He sat on his board beyond the breaks and watched the other surfers for a while but then paddled back onto shore and went home. He hadn't had an infection in quite a while and had forgotten how lousy they made him feel. He knew what he had to do for one so spent the weekend taking care of himself because he didn't want to miss any work. He loaded himself up with hot soups and juices to soothe his throat and clear some of the congestion. He hoped he would feel better by Monday because if he didn't or heaven forbid, he actually had to miss work, it would give Callen another reason to hell at him and he was getting extremely tired of being Callen's whipping boy. "What a shitty weekend! Can things get any worse? Callen doesn't think I'm good enough for his precious team. Maybe I should just quit being the damn liaison and go back to what I do best, undercover work at LAPD." He had been working his ass off to try to get them to see he was an asset to the team; he always had their backs; he came up with good plans and suggestions, but it didn't look like it mattered and he was getting tired of hitting his head against the 'proverbial wall'. Nothing he did ever seemed to be good enough for the legendary G. Callen.
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By Monday, Marty hadn't been feeling well for about a week but hadn't really taken notice of how bad he felt until the Saturday before with all the cases the team had been working on. Since he knew it was a sinus infection, he was treating his symptoms as usual, thinking he could work through them. He'd done it before so he could do it again. It usually took about 10 days for one of his infections to clear up, so he wasn't too worried even though he was still sick that morning and didn't feel any better than he had the week before. He knew he could do paperwork so he went into work at his usual time. As he walked into the bullpen, Callen was the only one there and wondered where Sam and Kensi were. "Great" he thought. "Just what I needed this morning. Callen looks like he wants to talk to me. Probably another diatribe from the almighty team leader. 'Goody' as Hetty would say."
Callen tried to bring up the op from the previous week but Deeks was having none of it. "Deeks, I want to discuss what happened last week." he began as Deeks approached the bullpen.
"Well I don't. Its over and done with. Let's just forget it. You think I was clearly the one at fault and we all know the legendary G. Callen is always right, so lets just leave it at that." Deeks said, sitting down and beginning his after-action report.
"That's not what I meant. I was worried last week when I saw you tackle that guy . I want to go over everything that happened during the op to see how we could have handled things better." Callen tried again.
Marty didn't want to hear anything Callen had to say and said so. "Look Callen, I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it okay! You made it abundantly clear on Friday that you think I screwed up because I'm just 'a cop' while you three are badass federal agents. I really don't want to get into this with you again. Once was enough! You think I'm the screw-up so let's say it was all my fault, as usual and just leave it!" Marty was shouting by the time he was finished and then he again disappeared from the bullpen. Callen looked around and noticed some disappointed looks from Nell, Eric and Hetty, but didn't connect the dots with what had just happened. As Deeks was stalking away, he was so frustrated he whispered to himself "Maybe I will just call it quits and go back to the LAPD." Callen didn't hear the whispered words, but Hetty did. Unbeknownst to the two men, Hetty had overhead the entire conversation, both the one today and the one on Friday. She had hoped on Friday that Mr. Callen could resolve the situation but it looked like he had just made it worse. If he couldn't convince Mr. Deeks that he was a valued member of the team and soon, she was prepared to step in and knock some heads together and one of those heads wouldn't be Mr. Deeks. She wasn't about to let her liaison officer go back to the LAPD. He was her agent, or as close as he could be without signing the paperwork she had ready for him, and she wasn't about to lose him. He was needed on this team whether the others realized it or not. Besides, he wouldn't last long back at LAPD working undercover with the lack of backup he usually had without something happening to him. He was lucky he hadn't been killed already since he always got the trickiest assignments there since he was the best.
"Well that went over like a lead balloon. Who would have known Deeks could hold a grudge this long. I guess I'll have to wait for a while and then try again…maybe away from work." Callen thought as he let Deeks walk away. He then started on his own pile of paperwork, not realizing how much he would regret his words and actions in the days to come.
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An hour later, Deeks walked back to his desk, sat down and began plowing through his paperwork. He had hoped the work-out would make him feel better, but it hadn't and he was feeling even worse than before. He had made the mistake of mentioning it in front of Kensi as she passed him on his way back from the gym and she had teased him and told him to quit whining "you big baby". Then he had heard Callen and Sam talking about the previous case and heard just enough to come to the wrong conclusion about what he overheard. He had reached his desk and given them both a look but they had just glanced at each other and smirked. He continued to work through the mountain of paperwork on his desk, thankful they hadn't caught another case. He had twice as much paperwork as anyone else on the team because he not only had to do his NCIS paperwork, but also had to complete and submit the various forms of LAPD paperwork for every case he worked at NCIS as the liaison; another fact the team was unaware of. Whenever they saw the pile of paperwork on his desk, they teased him about it not realizing sometimes how it sounded to him. It was just another thing that made him feel like he was unwanted and unneeded. The more he thought about it the angrier he became.
As the day progressed, he continued feeling worse and realized his throat was sore as well, but kept his mouth shut. He wasn't feeling well enough to take any more teasing from Kensi, or anyone else on the team for that matter. He could usually just let their comments roll off his back and give as good as he got, but feeling as lousy as he did, he didn't have the extra energy to do so today. After the previous month and Callen's comments, which he had taken in the worst possible way, he was feeling insecure about himself and unsure of his place on the team. He was concentrating so hard on completing his paperwork he didn't notice Kensi repeatedly giving him quick glances as the day went on. She was worried about the way he sounded and how quiet he was. He normally talked a 'mile a minute' about anything and everything, throwing out quips, jokes and smart-ass remarks, but today he was completely silent, only speaking when asked a direct question. She would never admit it, but he really lightened the atmosphere in the bullpen with his chatter. A quiet Deeks unnerved her. "Did I upset him earlier when I called him a big baby? My comments don't usually seem to bother him, but he's been quiet ever since he and Callen got into last week and he's been absolutely silent today since I teased him. Callen was out of line last week, but I didn't call him on it. I wonder if Deeks thinks I agreed with Callen? I should have been a little more sensitive since he really is sick. Why do I always give him such a hard time? He's really starting to sound horrible." She watched and listened to him for a while longer and then made an excuse to talk to Hetty about her concerns. "Hetty, I think you need to send Deeks home. He sounds terrible and he's been silent all afternoon. I think he's getting really sick."
Hetty gave Kensi a look that puzzled her and then glanced at Marty. She could tell from her desk he didn't feel well. "All right Miss Blye. Would you ask him to come see me please?"
Kensi returned to her desk. Nudging Deeks gently with her shoulder, she said "Hetty wants to see you."
"What…am I in trouble...did I do something?" He croaked. This was all he needed. He felt like crap, he was on the outs with Callen and now he was in trouble with his boss, the tiny terror. "Swell, just swell" he thought.
"What did you do now Deeks?" Sam mad a crack at his expense.
"Deeks, I'm sure you're not in trouble. Just go see her." Kensi tried to be sympathetic and hoped he realized it.
"Yeah, right" he replied as he slowly got up and proceeded to Hetty's office. He dreaded what was coming next. He just couldn't seem to catch a break lately.
As soon as Deeks left the bullpen, Kensi glared at Sam "You just had to give him a hard time didn't you? Why can't you give him a break?"
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