Author's Note: So, before we continue on with the sad stuff I thought it would be fun if I gave you guys a little glimpse at how Densi first got together. Enjoy!

Unconditional

Chapter 2

"A karaoke bar?" Sam says, arching a brow at the shaggy-haired liaison officer sitting across the bullpen at his own desk. The idea of hanging out at such a place seems altogether childish to the muscular ex-Navy Seal, and the fact that Deeks is suggesting they go to one after work, well—need I say more? "I stand corrected. That is the most ridiculous thing you've ever suggested."

Callen peers over the top of the newspaper he's currently engaged in, and eyes the younger man. "I'm gonna have to side with Sam on this one." He says.

"Seriously?" Deeks replies. "I mean, come on, you have to at least think about it." He presses the two older men. "Listen, its Friday, okay. It's been a long week, and I honestly think we could all benefit from some quality 'off-the-clock' bonding."

Now Callen lets the whole top half of the newspaper, fold downwards away from his face, and the arched eyebrow look he gives Deeks is priceless. "'Off-the-clock'…bonding? Have you been talking to Nate?" Callen asks, a slight grin playing at the corners of his lips.

Deeks isn't about to give up easily. He needs the guys to agree to his plan, otherwise he is afraid Kensi might not come as a result. She would probably think that going out to a bar, of any kind really, with just him might be a little too awkward. The truth is, Deeks has grown tired of dancing around their 'thing' like jungle natives around an active volcano. Its silly really, and its obvious she has strong feelings for him as well, but she's just not willing to make the first move—so be it. He will just have to kick things off, as it were.

"I'm telling you guys, you don't know what you're missing." Deeks tries again.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I do." Sam replies, his eyes moving upwards over Deeks' shoulder. Kensi is just entering the mission, coffee cup from Starbucks in hand, and he watches as she makes her way around to the bullpen. "Morning Kens." He greets the female federal agent.

"Hey Sam." She replies cheerfully, with a smile. "What are you guys talking about without me?" she asks, as she sidles on over to her own desk.

"Deeks' obsession with Karaoke." Callen replies nonchalantly.

"Just plain unhealthy if you ask me." Sam adds, trying to suppress a grin.

Deeks laughs nervously at that, and eyes his partner as she takes her place behind her desk. "Its not what you think." He tells her.

"Really?" she replies questioningly, between sips of coffee.

"Yeah, just ignore Abbott and Costello here." He pokes at Callen and Sam playfully, with a smirk. "I don't think they'd know a good time if they saw it."

Kensi laughs at her partner's wit. "So, just so I'm clear…which is which?" Kensi asks, looking from Callen to Sam, a playful expression crossing her features then.

"Kens, please—don't encourage him." Sam tells her, waving a hand slowly through the air.

"Don't think he needs it, Sam." Callen says, shooting a look to his partner. "Deeks is like the energizer bunny, ya know?"

"Yeah, just keeps running his mouth til it gets him into trouble." Sam says in agreement.

"Anyway, moving on." Deeks says quickly, seeing an opportunity to finally change the subject. He turns his eyes then back to his partner once more. "So, Kens. I was just telling Thing 1 and Thing 2 about this great little karaoke bar down on Sunset, and you know, I thought maybe we could all hang out there after work tonight. What'dya think? Beer? Hot Wings? Music?"

Kensi appears to be a little bit confused by Deeks' proposal. "But it's Friday? Friday's supposed to be movie night."

"Yeah, I know." Deeks replies. "But I thought, you know, maybe we could do something a little bit different—spice things up a bit."

Kensi's heart sinks a bit in her chest. Is he saying what she thinks he's saying? Has their customary 'Movie Night' become too boring for him? Kensi has really come to enjoy their special 'quiet' time together, and she was just beginning to think maybe they were finally making some progress regarding their 'thing'. Or maybe not.

"Kens?" The sound of Deeks' voice cuts through the misty haze that has settled over the female federal agent, and she instantly looks up at him.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe." She tries, going for a hopeful look as to avoid hurting her partner's feelings.

"Sweet." He replies with a triumphant grin.

"That's not a 'yes', Deeks." Callen says pointedly.

Deeks gives a shrug of his shoulders to the team leader. "It's not a 'no' either, so-I'll take it." He still appears to be very pleased. Nearby, Kensi can't help but feel a small smile playing across her face. Deeks often has this affect on her. Then before he can ask again if the guys will go with them, a loud whistle sounds from above their heads on the top of the staircase leading into Ops.

"Sounds like Eric's got a case for us." Callen muses, as he folds up his newspaper and then stands to his feet. "Lets go Thing 2." He says, with a smirk towards his partner.

Sam stands to follow after Callen. "Funny, I thought you were Thing 2, G."

Callen scoffs as the pair heads towards the staircase. "And let you be Thing 1? Not a chance, Sam."

Sam only chuckles behind Callen's back as they begin to climb the stairs to Ops.


Later That Afternoon…

Their day has ended with another case closed, and what a day it was. Now they all gather back in the bullpen to get ready to leave. Deeks decides to try one last time to convince the two elder members of the team to go along with his plan.

"So, last call." Deeks says, eying the two older men. "Karaoke Bar-You guys 'In' or 'Out'?" At that moment Eric and Nell appear at the foot of the staircase headed towards the bullpen.

"Yeah, you guys coming?" Eric asks, behind Deeks.

"You're kidding?" comes Sam's reply. "You two?"

"Of course." Nell replies. "It'll be fun." She adds excitedly.

Sam and Callen share a look with one another at this point, just as Hetty decides to join the already gathered group. The tiny woman has her purse slung across her shoulder as she approaches the group. "This place had better be all you say it is, Mr. Deeks, or I shall be very disappointed." Hetty tells the shaggy-haired man.

"Hetty?" Callen responds questioningly.

"There a problem, Mr. Callen?" the operations manager asks.

"So?" Deeks presses the two older men once more.


"Deeks." Callen says, as his eyes wander around the massive space before him. "This is not a bar." He continues, with a sideways glance at the shaggy-haired liaison officer.

"Technically, it is a bar." Deeks replies. "A really nice bar. It's unique, one-of-a-kind." The shaggy-haired man beams proudly.

"As long as they serve a good Scotch, I'll be happy." Hetty says nonchalantly.

Deeks chuckles at the tiny woman. "Oh, they do Hetty. Trust me." Deeks says with a wink in her direction.

"This place is so awesome." Eric remarks excitedly, as his eyes wander over the wall-to-wall rock-n-roll memorabilia décor. "Come on." He says excitedly, as he grabs Nell by the hand and leads her away.

"Eric, wait-" Nell tries, but to no avail.

The room before them is bigger than that of the average bar, and the space in the center is clearly big enough for people to dance should they so desire. Set off in the far back, right corner is the bar area, in which direction Hetty immediately makes a beeline. There are two strobe lights hanging from the ceiling, and both are currently pointed towards the bars' main attraction the Karaoke stage.

"I'm out of here." Sam says, with a roll of his eyes as he turns back towards the door.

"Hey, Sam wait." Deeks calls to the ex-Navy Seal. "Pleas man, stay. At least, for one drink."

Sam thinks for a moment, but then he finally heaves a defeated sigh and nods towards Deeks. "Fine. One drink only." Then he turns his gaze upon Callen. "But if I'm staying, that means so are you, G."

"Hey, you're on your own." The team leader says with a smirk.

Sam only narrows his eyes at his partner. Callen then raises his hands up defensively after a second or two. "Alright, fine. You win." He says at last, as a tiny grin crosses his face. "First drink's on me." He adds, nodding towards the bar.

Deeks turns to Kensi now. "Guess it's just you and me then." He smiles and wiggles his eyebrows at the brunette beauty. To this Kensi only responds with an eye roll.


Two hours later, the whole gang is still enjoying themselves in the 'Karaoke' bar. Sam and Callen clink beer bottles together (for the third time), while Eric and Nell sip on something a little tamer (which they share between them). Kensi hasn't really been much fun, yet, and Deeks has nervously been counting down the minutes til his big moment finally arrives. Then down at the corner of the bar counter sits Hetty downing yet another Scotch.

"That's good stuff, my friend." She tells the bar tender, and then motions for another. "Best idea you ever had, Mr. Deeks!" she calls down to the shaggy-haired man.

Deeks only nods in response. That remains to be seen. He thinks to himself. "Hey Kens, you alright?" Deeks asks the bored looking female federal agent who hasn't touched the beer that still sits in front of her on the counter.

"Yeah, I guess I was just looking forward to 'Dirty Dancing' and Smores." She says quietly, referring to their original plan for tonight, you know before Deeks decided on the change.

"I know, but-" he tries.

"You know what, Deeks?" Kensi cuts him off, without meaning to of course, as she swivels around on her stool to face her partner. "I'm just not really feeling it right now. Think I'll call it an early night." She says with a sigh.

Deeks' heartbeat picks up pace as he frantically struggles to think of something to say that will keep her around just a little bit longer. Kensi gathers her purse, and drops down off of the high-set stool. Deeks watches as she starts to walk back towards the exit.

Kensi had had her heart set on movie night with her partner all week, and this night was supposed to be different too. She had finally decided she was ready to open up to Deeks, feeling as though she could no longer keep her true feelings hidden any longer. Now, however, it seems she may have misjudged the shaggy-haired surfer.

"Um, Agh, sorry." Comes the familiar voice over the speaker system. Deeks clears his throat nervously as he directs everyone else's attention to himself. "Um, I've been planning this all week, and I guess, well, I guess it's now or never."


The whole room has fallen silent at this point, and even Callen and Sam have taken notice of where Deeks is standing on the Karaoke stage. "What the hell's he doing?" Callen wonders aloud.

"Making an ass of himself, as usual." Sam retorts, with a smirk.

"I would not be so sure, gentlemen." Hetty says, coming to stand next to the two federal agents—Scotch in hand.


One of the big overhead lights suddenly swivels towards the exit where it eventually lands on a stalled Kensi. Kensi raises a hand, at first, to shield her eyes from the intense glare. What's he up to? She wonders to herself.

"Kensi, I've had the time of my life getting to know you, and I think I'm ready to take that next step—I just hope you are too." Deeks says, clearly staring out across the floor at her. At that moment every muscle in the female federal agents' body tenses at his words.

Suddenly the music starts up just as the main lights begin to dim down a bit. She recognizes the music, and it instantly makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It's the theme song from 'Dirty Dancing'. As she stands silently in place she feels her knees begin to weaken beneath her.

The song plays through the overhead speakers as Deeks slowly makes his way down off of the stage. He weaves his way through the crowd of people towards Kensi. About halfway through, he breaks into a goofy little dance which Kensi figures is supposed to some form of mimicking Patrick Swayze from the film.

He finally reaches her, and a big smile plays across his face. It is only now that Kensi realizes he's been lip-synching the whole time, and not 'really' singing.

"Shouldn't you be singing? Not lip-synching?" Kensi asks almost without thinking.

Deeks chuckles. "You've heard me sing before, remember Fern? As I recall you likened it to the sound of a dying cat."

"True." She replies with a thoughtful grin, recalling the last time she'd heard him sing in the car. "I did say that, didn't I?"

"Besides, I wanted to serenade you, not make your ears bleed." He tells her.

Kensi nods appreciatively. "Thanks for that."

Deeks shifts nervously on the spot now as he thinks carefully about his next words. "So, how am I doing?" he asks nervously. Kensi steps forward, wraps her arms around his neck, and pulls him down into a deep, passionate kiss.

"How's that for an answer?" Kensi asks softly, after breaking the intense kiss.

Deeks smiles down at the beautiful woman in his arms. "That'll do pig. That'll do." Kensi rolls her eyes at the shaggy-haired man, but she can't quite suppress the laugh that escapes her lips.


"Well, I'll be damned." Callen remarks, seeing Deeks and Kensi kissing across the room.

"It's about time." Hetty chimes in, and this makes Callen and Sam look over at the tiny woman. "Thought those two would never hook up." Callen and Sam can only laugh.

...TBC...