I watched him as he moved like a small spider around the kitchen: agile and fast. Deeks was preparing us shrimp risotto and, even though he wasn't a fantastic cook, there was a great smell invading my nose. I sat back on his couch and, since I had spent most of my nights sitting in that exact same position, I could feel the shape of my butt slowly sinking into its fabric. It was comfortable to have somewhere to sit other than my own couch and bed.

"Are you ready for some action inside your mouth, Kensalina?" He shouted from the kitchen.

"That depends on what kind of action you're talking about." I smirked as he emerged from his cupboards with two white plates in his hands and filled them with a pink and orange paste.

Deeks placed both of the dishes in front of me in his small table. I sat straight on the couch as I admired his really muscly self wandering around the house wearing this button down shirt and a dirty yellow apron. His figure was printed in my eyes even when I closed them and I could see the outlines of his legs moving towards me. He threw his butt next to me on the couch so hard that I even trembled a little. I was hypnotized by the gaze his eyes were shooting at me. I had never seen such killer eyes; it was a different kind of blue.

His hand rested on my thigh and I felt an incredible desire eating me from the inside out, begging to be set free and out of my body, its cage. I did not feel ashamed anymore. Deeks made my embarrassment and my jitters go away, but only for a moment. It had been almost 3 months since we were finally official but I still felt those butterflies in my stomach when he stared deeply into me before he pressed his lips against mine.

"Let's see it." Deeks quickly glanced at our plates, "Give it a try."

I broke our eye contact to hold dinner in my hands. I could still feel his eyesight was stuck on me and I liked it. The look of the risotto made me expect some kind of gooey paste that would stick to the inside of my mouth and I would not be able to swallow. But, still, I stabbed a prawn with my fork and pushed some rice into it. I could see the smoke coming out of it as it graciously twirled before me with Deeks' golden curls in the background. I dared to put the food in my mouth and tasted it slowly.

"Wow." I said, with my mouth still full, "This is really good."

A smile started rising in his lips before he tried it himself. I was not expecting such a delicious outcome from what were almost two hours in the kitchen. Deeks swallowed some rice and then quietly smirked at me.

"I knew you love me for more than my bedtime skills."

We ate in silence until we were full and I suggested we lied down in his bed and watch some TV for a while. I shot my shoes almost across the bedroom before throwing my body onto his freshly made bed sheets. Deeks' body lied still; his right arm extended across the other pillow and his chest free, waiting for me to settle on top of it. I felt exhausted so I didn't even plant myself in a position in which I was able to see the TV screen, I expected to fall sleep quite soon.

He put on some SiFi movie that featured one eyed orange creatures. The graphics were terrible so I assumed it must have been an old film. My thoughts travelled to somewhere else as I heard his laughter once in a while. I was mesmerized by the touch of his arm surrounding my back and his hand holding me by my waist. I snuggled my upper limbs around his torso and pressed my head against his tee shirt to feel his smell. No matter how long I was around him, his smell always seemed to make me feel at home, wherever I was.

"Goodnight, Fern." Deeks whispered in my ear just before I shut my eyes.

"Kensi and Deeks, you two go check these two victims' neighborhood."

The next day, we were in OPS really early after Deeks got Eric's call at 6 AM saying that we had to go to the office as soon as possible to work on this case. The two geeks had been working on finding some kind of link between all of the victims and all they got was that some of them lived in the same place. Callen told us to go check one of them and talk to people while he and Sam would visit someone else's home.

I reckoned that this case required our clear and fully concentrated minds so I tried my best not to get distracted by Deeks' presence right by my side. We had some small talk during the ride but always stayed professional. When we arrived at our destination, we came to realize it was just behind the coffee shop where we had had breakfast just the previous day. Once we got out of my SUV, I noticed the houses were all aligned; all with the same height and width. With just one floor, these homes were colored in the most playful colors and their flowery gardens were perfect to complement the Alice in Wonderland environment.

Deeks looked around and smiled briefly. It came to me that maybe I was not the only one wondering what it would be like to live in a place like this with a person like him. But I had had enough possible future visions and alternatives for those few days.

"It must be this street." I said, looking to my right and then my left.

La Noisette, the café we had visited the previous day was the only shop or service in the premises so it would be likely if the people who lived in the area go there. We decided to pay them another visit and ask some questions about the victims.

The waiter was the same from the last time we were there, so it might be easier to gain his trust. As soon as we got in, I reminded myself that we were there under work circumstances so I was not supposed to hold his hand. The first thing Deeks did was get his phone out to show him some pictures.

"Hi, there." He said.

The silver plate in his shirt spelled Nolan Rivers in beautiful thin letters. I took out my badge to prove my authority.

"We need to ask you some questions about a few people who might have been here before they were killed."

"Sure." Nolan nodded.

Deeks showed him a picture of a small, fat man with short brown curls in his phone. Jonathan Dallas. He was the first one to be found and he lived just a block away from where we were.

"Yeah, he was here maybe two months ago. He used to come now and then, but he suddenly didn't anymore. I guess that's why."

He looked genuinely sad for the fact that someone he used to know was dead. I knew what it felt like. Deeks slid his finger across the screen to disclose a picture of a skinny read headed woman with sparkly green eyes. She was about 30 years old; the same age as me. Edna Longway.

"She was here as well. I saw her… after that other man disappeared. But I can't remember exactly when that was." Nolan told us.

Deeks slid to the next picture but realized he wasn't from that neighborhood so we didn't show it to the waiter. However, he did take a quick look at his face before Deeks locked his phone.

"Wait!" Nolan said, reaching for my partner's phone, "I saw him before."

We shared a look and he showed him the other victim. That was a man in his 40s with a Latino look. He had brown straight hair and his skin was fairly darker. I couldn't remember more than his last name. Something Delgado.

The man looked carefully and pointed at the screen when he realized who it was that he was staring at.

"He came here once. Quite a while ago. He said his name was Kevin… I can't remember his last name though."

"Kevin Delgado." I completed.

"Yeah, that's his name."

"Was. He is one of the victims as well." Deeks said.

If Nolan recognized someone that didn't even live near that place, maybe he knew someone else. It was worth the try. So Deeks slid to the next picture. Arthur Moore. He was in his 20s. He had really adorable brown eyes and blonde hair. The waiter recognized him as well. The same happened with Samantha Collins, a stunning woman with black hair and incredibly breathtaking gray eyes.

But Deeks and I were absolutely shocked when Nolan saw the latest victim's face and actually said his name.

"Adam Hastings." He said, "He was here last Tuesday."

The dead marine that was found on Monday had been there, just like every other victim. There was no way that was a coincidence. Deeks looked at me and we both knew what that meant. If those people showed up in the same place and then all ended up dead, someone who was right there had something to do with that. And, suddenly, while I tried to find myself in the labyrinth of my own thoughts, Callen and Sam came inside the little place. By the way they looked at us, they hadn't found anything that connected the victims and had no idea what they were about to listen.

"Hey." Callen started, "We found absolutely nothing. There is nothing that these people have in common."

Deeks and I shared another look as he smiled widely.

"That, my friend, is not true."

Callen and Sam frowned and curiosity took over them. I stepped aside for them to see the waiter and introduced him to them.

"This is Nolan Rivers, he is a waiter here." I began, "We showed him pictures of all of our victims, including Adam Hastings, and he said that every single one of them was here not long before they were found dead."

They were just as stunned as we were. After all of their training, they didn't take a long time to process information like this so the questions started soon.

"Was there anyone that was always here when they were?" Sam asked.

Deeks and I watched as the warlocks did their magic. It still surprised me how good Callen and Sam were, especially together. I saw them as the example of the perfect partnership. The only difference between them and me and Deeks was that our relationship was a little bit more than a simple partnership. I saw as Nolan reflected on the question. I understood it was a difficult detail to remember since the first killing had happened almost 2 months ago, but he really was trying.

"I can't be absolutely sure but there was this man, always on Tuesdays as well. He was there yesterday, with a little girl."

My breath was taken for me and I couldn't seem to catch it. He was the one Deeks and I had seen the previous morning. Maybe, just maybe, he did have something to do with this and since I knew his face, it would be so much easier to identify him. But then I started thinking wider. He was there only on Tuesdays and we had been there on a Tuesday… Assuming that he did have something to do with that, we could be in danger. But, most importantly, Deeks would be in danger. Of course, at that point there was no way of knowing if he was the killer.

The thought that we weren't sure rested me but I was still incredibly stressed. When Deeks looked at me with such fear and perplexity, I knew he had realized the same thing.

"What do you two know that we don't?" Callen asked, making us both wake up.

"We were here yesterday." Deeks told him, "And so was he. We've seen this guy."

Sam had also realized that, if he was who we thought he was, Deeks and I would have to be very careful in the next few days. Callen was already one step ahead of us, asking the questions.

"Wait a second. Don't rush. Firstly, we are not sure he is guilty of any of this. He could be completely innocent. Secondly, even if he is doing the killing, we don't even know what it was that made him target these people."

He had a point. For all we knew, whoever it was wasn't choosing his victims by their physical appearance so we would have to dig deeper into this person's mind. I wasn't so worried after he said that but, after we left, I still had to hold Deeks' hand all the way until the car, just to make sure I would still have those minimal seconds to feel him.

Hetty was present when Eric and Nell presented to us the facts. All the 6 victims had been found with the femoral artery slit with roofies in their systems and they had all been seen in La Noisette soon before they died.

"There were no surveillance cameras at the coffee shop so it will be quite hard to identify our mystery man." Nell started, "But since Kensi and Deeks have seen him before, it might be easier to find him."

We all stared into the screen, trying to get that puzzle together.

"This… person is sick. 6 people are dead and so far the only connection between them we have is that they all went to this café."

"Mr. Deeks, Ms. Blye." Hetty called us, "It was referred that this man only came on Tuesdays and you two were at his sight yesterday. We don't have any proof that he is the one we seek but I suggest you take all the necessary precautions to keep each other safe."

Sam let out a little snort and evidently had to mock us.

"They are already sleeping with each other, they can't keep each other any safer than that."