Chapter 3
Deeks was still missing when Kensi returned from the gym. Whatever. She grabbed her bag and left the Mission. She had some errands to run and then she was going for that long run.
Not five minutes later, Deeks returned with a plastic bag and found the place deserted. Then he saw the overturned mug and scattered pens and pencils. Kensi did this. I know she did. She thinks I left her.
He straightened up and then opened the bottom drawer of his desk and dropped the bag in. It contained dozens of candy bars which he would dole out to Kensi as needed.
Got to keep my Kensalina fueled up!
Deeks was parked outside Kensi's apartment waiting for her to return from her run. To pass the time, he nibbled a couple French fries and cleaned out his glove compartment.
Suddenly, an LAPD cruiser rolled up and Kensi exited the back seat. The two uniforms also got out and stood by the vehicle talking and laughing. They appeared to be in their early twenties and barely out of the academy. Kensi was clad in a cute little tank top and shorts and there was a large bandage on her right knee. Then she turned slightly and Deeks saw gauze wound around her upper left arm. What the hell?
One of the officers touched Kensi's arm and Deeks felt his blood pressure rise. What are these clowns doing?
He got out of the car and slammed the door. Then he strode toward Kensi and whipped out his LAPD ID.
"Detective Deeks, LAPD . . . and Kensi's partner."
The guys fell back from Kensi and shared a startled look. "Evening, Detective," the taller guy stammered.
"Kensi, what happened? Are you okay?" asked Deeks.
"I'm fine . . . mostly." She rubbed her arm.
The other uniform spoke up. "Wait, Kensi's NCIS and you're LAPD, but your partners?"
"I'm a liaison to NCIS." He had to shut these guys down. "What's with these bandages, Kensi?"
"I stopped at a convenience store to get some water and while I was at the register, two teenagers came in and tried to rob it." She waved a hand toward the cops. "Officers Peterson and Gonzalez here happened to come in at the same time."
"I just had to have a slushy," said Gonzalez.
Right, thought Deeks. You ought to be out running laps.
Kensi continued. "The three of us gave chase and took them down. During that takedown, one of the little twits pushed me down on the dirty sidewalk. That explains my arm and knee. But these nice officers cleaned it up for me."
"I'll bet they did," said Deeks with no enthusiasm. I'm a nice officer. I would have been more than happy to clean you up.
"You should have seen Kensi in action," said Peterson. "She was fearless, like Wonder Woman."
She's my Wonder Woman, dude.
"Trust me, I've seen Kensi in action."
Kensi turned to the uniforms. "Guys, thanks for everything."
"No, thank you," said Gonzalez. "If you ever want to join LAPD, we'll put in a good word for you with our Lt. Bates."
Deeks chuckled. "Yeah, that's not happening. She's happy at NCIS."
She shot him a dirty look. "Deeks! I can speak for myself." She stared at him for a long moment.
"Sorry."
"But he's right. I'm good where I am."
Deeks stepped closer and put a hand at the small of her back. "Come on, honey. You should rest."
Peterson pulled a card from his pocket. "If you change your mind."
Finally, the officers got in their cruiser and left. Peterson checked his rearview mirror and saw Kensi and Deeks apparently engaged in an argument on the sidewalk. He snorted. "Partners. Yeah, right."
"Too bad," said Gonzalez. "I was going to ask her to the department cookout."
"Not if I asked her first," replied Peterson.
Kensi shook off Deeks' hand. "What's the matter with you tonight? And what's with this possessive act, honey?"
"I was protecting you from those sharks. They were doing a damn fine job of hitting on you, not to mention trying to steal you away from me. Then I'd be a third wheel with Sam and Callen. Don't know if I could deal with that."
"They're cops. Like you. Just doing their job. I would have expected you to have more empathy for your fellow officers."
"Puh-leeze. They needed a roll of paper towels to mop up their drool."
Kensi propped her hands on her hips. "You're being ridiculous."
"Hello, Kensi." An elderly couple unloading groceries nearby waved.
"Hello, Mr. Adams, Mrs. Adams."
She looked back to Deeks. "Let's take this inside. Wait a minute, what are you doing here anyway?"
"I brought dinner. I knew you'd be starving after your run and I'm certainly famished after my run, which by the way, we could have taken together if you had still been there when I returned from my errand. I didn't just abandon you."
Kensi regarded him with skepticism. "If you say so. But I don't see any food in your hands." She sincerely hoped he wasn't kidding because she was ready to eat a horse.
"Just you wait." He went and opened the passenger side of his car and pulled out some fast food bags.
She nodded in approval. "Okay then." She unlocked her door and Deeks followed her in. He took in the general disarray of her apartment.
"Interesting decorating scheme," he said. "I'd call it Chaos by Kensi. And I'd spell it with a K."
"Look, if you came here to diss my place you can leave right now."
"No, I didn't come here to diss your place. I thought we could eat and chillax and go over the museum security plan again."
They both knew that's not why he was there and Kensi decided to call him on it. "Really? We've been over it a dozen times already. But if you have some new insight, I'm all ears."
"Let's eat first, then I'll share."
"Fine. I usually eat on the couch."
"Works for me."
They were forced to sit close together because one end of the couch had a stack of fashion magazines while a stack of folded towels occupied the other end. Not that Deeks minded in the least. "You know, I could put these towels in your linen closet, if you like."
"I'll do it later."
"Later never comes. Like saying you'll start a diet tomorrow."
Kensi sighed. "Would you zip it? What did you bring? It smells divine."
"Double-Deluxe cheeseburgers, super-sized fries and beer," he said.
"Perfect."
They demolished the food in record time and leaned back with full stomachs. Neither spoke for a minute. Then Kensi said, "So what's your big insight?"
Deeks pulled out his cell phone and brought up a picture of a thirty-something man in a dark suit. "I kept seeing this guy. At first, I thought he was some museum staffer, but he wasn't wearing a name tag and he seemed to be following us at a distance when Mr. Beckwith was showing us around. Did you notice him?"
Kensi studied it for a minute. "Not sure. There were so many people and kids around. He could have been with one of the school groups."
"I sent it to Eric, but no hits on facial recognition."
"Maybe he was just a man interested in ancient history, a professor or something," shrugged Kensi.
"Or somebody casing the place. There are a lot of priceless items there."
"True, but the museum has an impressive security system. One of the best I've ever seen."
Deeks ran a hand threw his hair as he looked at the picture again. "Something about the guy tickles my Spidey sense. You should never disregard that feeling."
Kensi could tell Deeks was being serious. "No, you shouldn't. That's how prehistoric man kept from being eaten by wild animals." She paused. "Good observation, partner."
Deeks looked up. "Wait. Was that a compliment from Kensi Blye?"
She punched his shoulder lightly. "I appreciate good teamwork."
The conversation drifted to other subjects as they talked and laughed. At some point, somebody clicked on the TV and they debated different shows. Kensi began to feel sleepy and before long, her head dropped onto Deeks' shoulder.
Hello! What just happened? Did she mean to do that?
For several long minutes, Deeks sat immobile. Do I dare? Slowly, he moved his arm up and around her shoulder. He took the empty beer bottle from her hand and set it on the end table to his right. She shifted a little, but did not wake up. He caught a whiff of her shampoo. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but it was something floral.
He smiled to himself. Nice. I could so get used to this.
An annoying little thought suddenly occurred to him. What if one of Kensi's pseudo-boyfriends decided to drop by to try to rekindle something? They wouldn't dare, would they?
Kensi didn't know it yet, but Deeks planned to become her real boyfriend in the future. He couldn't predict what hoops he'd have to jump through or how long that would take. However, he was confident he could achieve this goal. The more he thought about it, the more he embraced the idea. Oh yeah, Marty Deeks can get the girl! Having thus decided on a course of action, he was finally able to settle down and savor having Kensi all to himself for a bit. He tugged her a little closer.
He checked his watch. Nearly 1 a.m. He wondered what to do. It was a work night and he really should get going. On the other hand, it would be so easy to simply stretch out here and pull Kensi down on top of him. That would be heaven! My luck Kensi would wake up and call 911 to report sexual harassment.
Another 15 minutes passed while Deeks flipped through the TV channels. It was weird having quiet time with Kensi. She was so feisty when she was awake. He was still amazed that this whip smart, badass beauty was his partner and he got to spend every day with her. "Kensi," he whispered. "I'm leaving now."
Still no response. He disentangled himself and eased Kensi down on her side.
"Alrighty then." He clicked off the TV, bundled up their food wrappers and took them to the kitchen. Along the way he passed Kensi's open bedroom door.
"Wow." He stood transfixed in the doorway. Unmade bed, clothes and shoes everywhere, cosmetics and nail polish a foot deep on the dresser, dirty clothes hamper overflowing. He shook his head. "This relationship is doomed," he mumbled. Deeks was a super-neat guy as evidenced by his desk at the Mission.
Finally, he went in and yanked the wrinkled comforter off the foot of the bed, which caused more clothes to tumble to the floor. He shrugged. Can't make it any worse.
He returned to the living room and draped it around Kensi and tucked her hair behind her ear. Yep, just as silky as I imagined. He lingered longer than he should just toying with her hair.
"Goodnight, princess."
He grabbed his keys and phone and looked back at Kensi one last time. Then he had an idea that was too good to ignore. He snapped a picture of his sleeping partner with his phone. He didn't know if he would send it to her or just keep it for himself. Might need leverage in the future!
He checked the door to make sure it would lock and then slipped out into the balmy night.