Thanks so much for the reviews! Much appreciated.


"So who's doing the lunch run today?" Callen asked. The hours of paperwork were starting to catch up with him as he casually stretched his arms up above his head.

"We'll do it!" Deeks replied a little too eagerly striding from his seat and practically dragging Kensi along with him. Callen chuckled knowing exactly what Deeks was doing.

"What's so funny?" Sam asked in a stern tone looking up from his laptop.

"He's avoiding you." Callen smirked.

"Who? Deeks?" Sam closed the laptop directing his attention to his smug looking partner.

"Yep." Callen replied casually, standing from his seat.

"Why?" Sam questioned, particularly interested in his partner's theory.

"You were a little full on with them this morning." Callen suggested. He walked over to Deeks' desk perching himself on it as he faced towards his partner.

"How so?" Sam was beginning to sound slightly irritated, something that did not go unnoticed by Callen.

"Hounding them about their cover story." Callen replied calmly.

"Come on G, you know I can't just let them into my home without going over a few things first." Sam replied frustratedly.

"I know, it's just... they weren't exactly expecting to have to take the Sam Hanna crash course in babysitting."

"It's not a course G, it's more of a briefing."

"A briefing?" Callen questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah a friendly briefing" Sam added.

"A friendly briefing? Those looks you were giving Deeks earlier were anything but friendly." Callen called him out on it, he had noticed the glares Sam had been sending Deeks all morning.

"So?" Sam's increasing irritation was becoming evident as he started shuffling in his seat.

"So... what's your problem with Deeks?" Callen had known Sam long enough to know that the looks he was giving Deeks were more than mild frustration.

"My problem with Deeks?" Sam repeated "Lemme see, his unprofessional conduct, his inability to keep still, did you see him tapping on the damn desk while I was trying to type up my report?" Sam responded.

"He always does that." Callen wasn't buying it for a second.

"Well it's annoying" Sam somewhat growled in reply.

"Sam." Callen knew that there was something deeper going on.

"Gym, now." Sam simply stated, his partner immediately following his line of thinking.


Meanwhile outside the bullpen Deeks and Kensi were walking towards her car.

"You wanna explain why we're getting lunch right now?" Kensi questions checking her phone as Deeks unlocks her car. Over the last few weeks Kensi had allowed Deeks to drive her car more frequently than she had in the past.

"I couldn't take it anymore, did you see the way Sam was looking at me in there?" Deeks had noticed Sam's less than subtle looks.

"No, I was busy typing up my report that is due today by the way, how was he looking at you exactly?" Kensi was a little frustrated with the way that Deeks would become distracted when it came to completing paperwork. How would he see Sam looking at him if he was doing his report?

"Like he wanted to rip my head off." Deeks exclaimed as they merged into traffic.

"How exactly is that any different from usual?" Kensi smiled at him knowing that Sam had always given Deeks a hard time.

"Ha-ha very funny, look this is serious, we need to be ready for Sam's little study session tonight." Deeks replied, ordinarily he would have continued the banter, however there was a very significant lack of humor to his tone of voice. Something that did not go unnoticed by Kensi.

"Are you scared of Sam, Deeks?" Kensi offered to continue the banter, hoping to break some of the tension. God, Deeks really was rubbing off on her.

"Have you seen the size of that guy?" Deeks played along this time.

"He'd squash you like a grape." Kensi teased.

"Exactly. Which is why I don't wanna screw up with him." The seriousness returning to Deeks' tone.

"You won't screw it up, you need to relax, let's go to that coffee shop you love, get something to calm your nerves." Kensi suggests, Deeks really did seem on edge about all of this.


Driving back to the mission with enough food for the whole team and a ridiculously oversized cup of coffee for Deeks the conversation they were having earlier continued.

"Better?" Kensi asked. Coffee almost always put him in a good mood.

"No." Deeks replied in a somewhat raised tone.

"No? Deeks what the hell is up with you? I thought I was the one terrified of this babysitting thing?"

"I'm not terrified of the babysitting part, that will be a piece of cake, it's Sam that worries me." Deeks replied.

"Why?" Kensi pressed. She wanted a serious answer this time and he knew it judging by the way she was now looking at him. A slight frown and a furrowing of her brow, the concern was evident.

"It's just that... you heard him the other day, when I offered to help you out he was totally against it, it's like... he doesn't trust me." Deeks confessed. His relationship with Sam had always been a rocky one. However, they had gotten to a stage where they could trust each other storming into an abandoned warehouse with all guns blazing. Yet Sam still wanted him nowhere near his kids. Deeks would be lying if he said it didn't hurt.

"Deeks..."

"It's true! You know he wouldn't make you go through all of this if it was only you babysitting." Deeks said sadly.

"You're sure of that?" Kensi laughed slightly as Deeks raised his eyebrows at her. "You heard Callen earlier, he probably made him go through the exact same thing." Deeks wasn't buying it.

"Deeks c'mon he wouldn't have agreed to it if he didn't trust you."

"Yeah yeah..." Deeks muttered. "He only agreed to it because he had no other options" He thought to himself.


Meanwhile back at the gym.

"So you gonna level with me here?" Callen asked. They had positioned themselves away from the prying eyes and ears of the bullpen.

"Look G, you've noticed how close Deeks and Kensi have gotten lately." Sam spoke in a hushed tone, leaning slightly against the punching bag.

"Yeah..." Callen stood opposite Sam, his arms folded.

"Well I don't like it one bit." Sam confessed.

"Sam."

"It's not good, G."

Callen sighed awaiting Sam's reasoning.

"Deeks is LAPD, he's not NCIS, nearly three years with us and he hasn't even tried to become an agent."

"I'm sure he has his own reasons for that" Callen suggested.

"Yeah well, that tells me he is not committed to this team G, or to his partner." Sam added.

"So the angry looks you gave him earlier were because he isn't an agent?" Callen questioned.

"No, they were because he couldn't take his eyes off Kensi, did you see him looking at her?" Sam added.

Callen chuckled, Deeks had been doing it more and more often over the past few weeks.

"You think this is funny?" Sam scolded his partner.

"No, it's just... there isn't anything we can do about it Sam."

Sam sighs, he knows that his partner is right, they just have to wait and see what happens.