VERACITY

The short ride out to Venice Beach was odd. To say the very least. It was odd in the sense that it was quiet inside the car. There was no conversation, no back and forth banter, no quips or lame jokes. All was silent in Camp Deeks and he'd been that way since leaving headquarters. A silent Deeks was cause for concern in Kensi Blye's book. Because Deeks was never quiet. It was almost impossible for him to utter not a single word, let alone not talk for an entire five minutes.

"Should I turn on the radio to cover up the deafening silence?" she said glancing at her partner. He was staring out the side window, arm resting on the door, watching the palm trees and the streets whizz by and looking a million miles away.

"There's nothing going on, Kens," Deeks told her. Because he knew what she was thinking.

"Oh, there it is, I was just about to suggest a trip to the ER," she said and he slid her a questioning look. "Because, y'know, you were real chatty back at Ops, thought maybe you'd worn your tongue out or something." He half smiled but didn't add anything else to that, which was odd in itself - she'd never known Deeks to not come back with a comeback. It was the basis of their crazy partnership. He just went back to looking out of the window and so she tried a different approach. "Callen was a little tough on you. Seemed a little judgy. You and him gonna be okay?"

"Callen's Callen. Guy's just doing his job," Deeks murmured. "Can't blame him for being suspicious."

And that was all she was getting it seemed. So Kensi nodded, took it on the chin and turned back to the road. She wanted to ask questions, because she had a lot of them, and she was hoping he'd open up about his 'relationship' with Stella Navarro; but the silence and his body language were not in keeping with his character and it was throwing out all kinds of confusing negative vibes. She knew, for now, leaving it alone was probably for the best. Whatever demons he was wrestling she didn't want to alienate him. If things were about to get tough, she needed him to know she wasn't just his partner and friend, but that she was there if he needed her to be. Until then she had to ride it out.

She pulled the car to a stop outside of a local bar Deeks knew Starr used to frequent. The 'Venice Whaler' was one of Venice's oldest haunts, popular with locals and tourists alike; mainly down to the cheap, but decent seafood on the menu and the pitchers of ice-cold imported beers.

"Okay, let's do this," said Deeks with a sigh. "Just, y'know, be cool."

"Uh, I'm sorry, was that you questioning the level of my street cred?" Kensi replied with one eybrow bobbed.

He gave her a flat look that had a hidden undertone of amusement. "Street cred? Okay, you know you can't say that, right?"

"I believe I just did," she replied with a humorously bold disobedience and Deeks had to smile, because she always looked so cute when she was one-upping him.

"You ever been here before?" he asked her.

"Can't say I have."

"That's what I thought. Let's go," he said climbing out of the car and stretching his long legs.

Kensi rolled her eyes but followed him anyway, joining him on the sidewalk as they made their way inside the bar. There was rock music playing from the loudspeakers that hung above the oval-shaped, oak bar and behind it the bartender - a young, bearded guy with dark hair and tattoos - was slicing limes. Even for the early time of day the place was alive with surfers, bikers and young people of all ages.

"Popular place," she said as she and Deeks stepped up alongside the bar.

The bartender smiled, flashing a set of perfectly white teeth. He sent Kensi a flirty wink. "Hey there, gorgeous, what's your poison?"

"Not here for a drink, hot stuff," Deeks replied, flashing his LAPD badge. The bartender nodded and paused his slicing while Deeks pulled up the photograph of Starr Eric had downloaded to his phone. He briefly stalled, before clearing his throat. "Do you know this woman?" he asked.

The bartender looked at the photograph and immediately cracked a grin. "Hell, yeah, that's Starr. Everyone knows her."

"How do you know her?" asked Kensi.

"As a regular. One of our best. Every time she came in here she'd bring the crowds with her. In this town you don't have to be a celebrity to be a celebrity," the bartender said with a wide smile.

"Popular girl."

"She was a sweetheart," the bartender told Kensi. "Great looker, too. Like I said, best customer."

"Nothing more?" Deeks wanted to know, tucking the phone back into his pocket.

The bartender cracked a grin knowing where the Detective was going with it. "I wish. And I wasn't the only one. There were a lotta guys who wanted a piece of that sweet tail."

Kensi felt Deeks stiffen and she quickly jumped in, moving the conversation forward. "So has she been in here lately?" she asked.

"Nope." The bartender shook his head. "Haven't seen her in a long while. One minute she was here, the next gone. Miss her pretty face. A few other parts too, know what I'm sayin'?" He grinned at Deeks who wanted to comment but thought better of it. "What's this about? She in trouble?"

"Just need to ask her a few questions." Deeks handed the guy his contact card. "If she happens to come in give me a call."

"Yeah, sure thing, man. If you happen to see her first tell her to get her ass in here. It's missed," the bartender said.

"Yeah, I'll do that, man," Deeks half-heartedly replied. "Thanks for your time."

Once they were stepping back out onto the bright sunshine of the bustling boardwalk, Kensi turned to Deeks with a faint smile. "Care to explain what that was?" she asked as they walked side-by-side to the next bar on the list.

"What was?"

"That, back there. Hardly playing it 'cool'. At one point it looked like you wanted to punch the guy."

"Pft, yeah," Deeks snorted, "but only because his beard was slightly better than mine."

Kensi shook her head, smiling. It was Deeks personality to hide his true feelings with humor. "Deeks, if we're working this case you have to turn off any personal feelings."

He slid a thoughtful look over her. "You're right. 'Let age, not envy, draw wrinkles on thy cheeks'," he quoted. "Beard deserves a frickin' ticker tape parade. The hair needs work, though," he said scratching a hand through his shaggy 'styled-by-pillow' hair.

Kensi just rolled her eyes. "The way you tensed up when you showed him Starr's picture, don't think I didn't see that. So why don't you lay it out for me?"

"Nothing to lay out, Kens. I have no idea why we're even on this case or why Hetty's connecting the two. How could I? It was a big enough shock finding out Starr was back in LA."

"I get that. But if there's a remote possibility this woman is one of the reasons IAB are investigating you - "

"Could be," he cut in. "I mean, I don't know for sure. Maybe. Partly. Possibly, yeah."

She frowned and looked briefly confused. "Well, which is it?"

"I'm gonna go with...yeah." He paused then added, "Possibly."

"Why is it so difficult for you to give me a straight answer?"

"I can give you a straight answer if that's what you want. For example, ask me what I ate for breakfast this morning."

Kensi's shoulders drooped in that 'why-me' way. But it was easier all round if she played along with him. "Let me guess, a cronut?"

"Yes." He pointed a finger at her. "There's your straight answer."

"Okay, now that's out of the way, can you turn your attention to my initial question? Or do you wanna share what you ate for dinner last night?"

"I don't know what you want me to say. And fish tacos, leftovers from the night before. Had a kind of funky aroma, not sure what that was about, but I washed it down with a beer so it was all good. I really don't know what else you want me to say, Kens."

"How about we stop with the counter-questioning and you just tell me what's going on, Deeks. Tell me you're going to be okay. Tell me if you need anything."

"I don't know if I'm gonna be okay and there's nothing I need. Are we done fighting?"

"We're not fighting. Trust me you'll know when we are," she said. "Starr's brother, Marco, was he the one you were investigating when that cop got killed?"

Deeks tensed up but quickly shook it off, knowing that she would immediately jump on it. "Marco Navarro was on the LAPD radar long before that happened."

"But you said you were there when he threatened to kill her."

"I was. But not as a cop."

"As her friend."

"Right. Look, Kens, I don't know what you want from me. I'm just as in the dark as you are about what's going on. Besides, you know how the IA works, they're gonna do whatever they have to, to prove whatever it is they have to prove."

"And what is that?"

"C'mon."

"It's a simple question."

"You know I can't talk about an ongoing investigation."

"But you know why you're being investigated. They've questioned you already. And Hetty knows, too."

"Okay, can we not talk about this right now and please just do our job? I can't think about any of that and I can't think about Starr either - "

"Thought you didn't want to talk about it?"

He slid her a glance and she bobbed an eyebrow at him. Deeks sighed. "Okay. Look. Her brother doesn't play softball. He will kill her when he gets out."

"After being locked up for six years I doubt he's going to do anything to risk going back inside," Kensi said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Deeks.

"If she knew the risk in coming back there has to be a valid reason as to why she came back."

"If I knew I would tell you."

"Are you the reason, Deeks?"

"Really?" he laughed. "C'mon."

"You were friends," Kensi shrugged.

"Yeah, we were. Good friends. But not so good she'd come back here and put her life on the line. We'd meet up over drinks and she'd tell me all about her crappy day and I'd tell her all about my crappy day and she got it." He shrugged. "She understood how I never felt at home anywhere. Not the Public Defender's Office, the LAPD...she just got it. Because she felt the same way. She never fit in with her family. We were both misfits, square pegs in round holes."

"So you had a connection."

"It was a little more than that."

"You were involved?"

"Not exactly." He paused. "I mean, yeah, there was heat between us but we never acted on it."

"You, uh, hesitated there."

"Okay, there was one time we acted on it," he retracted, "but it never went any further than a hot and heavy make-out session. Timing was all wrong."

Kensi lifted a dark eyebrow. "Hot and heavy make-out session? What are you, fifteen? So you have feelings for her."

"Define feelings."

"Romantic."

"Wow, okay, you do not pull any punches. You and your army brat boots kicking down my defenses and stomping all over my hiddenmost desires and feelings. I'm not that guy, Kensalina. I need trust and comfort first."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not an army brat. Say it again, and you can trust that I'll stomp over more than just your feelings," she fired back.

"Ouch. That was uncalled for and it's not helping me open up."

Even though secretly she was enjoying that they were back to their usual back-and-forth bickering selves, Kensi couldn't help but sigh. "I'm losing an IQ point a minute talking to you. Just answer the question, Deeks."

"Wasn't a question. You stated it. It was a statement. You're, uh, getting your nouns mixed up a little there, Special Agent Blye."

"And now we're back to hesitating."

"No, I'm stalling. You also need to work on your verbs. And I'm stalling because usually I prefer a little gentle foreplay first to help me loosen up."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? If I used gentle foreplay?"

"A little bit," he answered sliding her a grin. "Why aren't you doing this interrogation thing for a living? You could be getting paid. Oh, wait." He winked at her and she just rolled her eyes. "So when you say romantic, you really mean...?"

"Sexual."

"There it is."

Kensi couldn't help herself, she laughed. There'd been a lot of talk yet she was no further forward in finding out any more than she knew an hour ago. He really was infuriating. "Okay, y'know what, fine. I'm not gonna strong-arm you into telling me - "

"Pft! Like you could. What do you bench press anyway?" he asked giving her bicep a squeeze. "Do you even know what a bench press is? Wait, are you flexing?"

Kensi swatted his hand away. "Forget I even wanted this conversation with you. Clearly it was an error of judgment." They had arrived at the next bar on the list and both stopped at the entrance. "But can I give you one small piece of advice?"

"Go for it."

"Be careful," she said meeting his eyes. "You've had no contact with this woman for over a year and now suddenly she's back and involved in a robbery and a murder - "

"She didn't kill that guard. She doesn't have it in her."

"So you keep saying, but her genetics tell a different tale."

"Starr would never intentionally hurt anyone."

"She could easily have shot that guard, Deeks."

"Think you need to go read that file Hetty has on her," he said. "Because nowhere does it say murderer."

"What about jewel thief?"

It was becoming exhausting having to defend someone. On top of that he really didn't want to get into a fight with his partner over it. "She's not that either, Kens. There's a reason she's mixed up in this. Has to be. She wouldn't come back here on an impulse. Besides, you heard Mr. Teeth and All Beard back there, she was a sweetheart. Everyone loved her."

"Including you."

"C'mon, don't make it weird."

"Oh, you somehow manage to do that all by yourself," Kensi said with a smirk. "You did or do love her."

"You're like a dog with a bone," Deeks returned with a smirk of his own. When she got a hold of something she just wouldn't let go. "And I'm choosing to exercise my right to remain silent," he added.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I know I'm right, though."

"Even a broken clock gets the chance to be right twice a day."

"Cute. Just watch your back, okay?"

"Isn't that your job?" he said with a wink.

"I can only do that if you trust me," she replied. "I'm not asking you to tell me everything, Deeks, just don't shut me out. Keep me in the loop, okay? I wanna help."

"Consider it done."

"Glad to hear it. Because you don't need any more unnecessary drama and if IA get word she's in town, you won't be doing yourself any favors by reinvolving yourself with her."

"Copy that, partner," said Deeks. Even though it was probably already too late. "Let's go talk to some bartenders," he said holding open the door for her.

"Let's also try to keep the flirting to a bare minimum. Hot stuff," Kensi said stepping into the air-conditioned cool of the bar.

Deeks grinned. "It's a beard thing. You wouldn't understand. And he started it," he said and followed her inside.

COPYRIGHT. Anna Mack Callen. (NCIS:LA - Falling Star)