Chapter 3

"Detective Marty Deeks from the LAPD, Meaghan, but you can call me either Marty or Deeks. I've been assigned to protect you until we find out who's threatening your family." he said, holding out his hand. It took a moment for Meaghan to understand what he had said and then took his hand without thinking, shaking it.

"My parents don't like it when I call adults by their first names, even though I'm an adult now too." she said caustically, trying to regain her previous attitude.

"Well, I would really prefer you call me either one of those instead of Detective. I'll deal with your parents." he replied, winking at her. "So, you like Rocking Bars? What's your favorite song?"

Coming out of her daze, she sighed in frustration. Why did all adults feel like they needed to "connect" with you concerning something they obviously had no idea about. She thought about her mother, trying to use slang when talking to her, always getting it wrong or using words that hadn't been spoken for years. Embarrassing her in front of her friends. Shaking off the butterflies, she decided to trip up the police detective. "Oh, my favorite is Falling Hard! How nice of you to ask."

Deeks tilted his head to the side, knowing full well that this was not a song in the band's repertoire. "Really? I don't know that one. My personal favorite is Finding Peace with You." he responded, enjoying the look of surprise that crossed Meaghan's face.

"You really do know the band?" she asked.

"Yup. I've been following them for a few years now, along with many others. The L.A. music scene is full of great bands." he replied.

They started talking about their favorite bands, both local and professional and found they enjoyed the same type of music. Meaghan was starting to think this wasn't going to be too bad after all. Marty was fun and not as staid as all the adults her parents were friends with. She really didn't have much contact with any other adults, other than her teachers and they all had sticks up their butts.

"So, are you looking forward to your cotillion tonight?" Deeks asked.

Meaghan looked like she swallowed something sour. "I'd rather have bamboo shoved under my fingernails!" she replied.

Deeks snort laughed at the unexpected response, one that so closely resembled how he had felt when first told they would need to attend as well. This caused Meaghan to giggle, causing Deeks to burst into full on laughter, Meaghan immediately joining in. It really wasn't all that funny, just one of those things that struck you in the moment and there was no holding back. Their laughter floated back through the door into the drawing room, causing all conversation to stop. The Admiral and his wife exchanged looks before both turning to look at the door through which the laughter came. They both looked stunned.

Mrs. Shelton looked at Callen "I haven't heard that laughter in a long time, ever since she hit puberty. How did Detective Deeks get through to her?"

The NCIS agents looked at each other, knowing they really didn't have an explanation on how Deeks did what he did. Kensi was the first to respond, proud of her partner "It's Deeks. It's what he does." and she shrugged. The Sheltons looked back at the door and shook their heads, not sure how they felt about the fact that the scruffy looking detective had gotten their daughter to not only respond to him, but to laugh within minutes of meeting him. Something they had been unable to do for several months as she pulled further and further away from them.

In the kitchen, Deeks asked Meaghan why she was going through with the cotillion if it wasn't what she wanted.

"It's what my mother wants." she responded. "I don't really get along very well with my parents and I thought maybe this would help us a little. But I hate all that old music. Waltzes? Are you kidding me? My mother has been making me take ballroom dancing lessons for months. Like I'm ever going to dance a waltz after tonight!"

Deeks smiled at her and said "You know, classical music can be very elegant. Watching two people waltz is like watching them float on air. It's not so bad." His issue with going to the party that evening was not the music or the dancing, it was the dressing up and the uptight people who would most likely be attending.

"You can't be serious!" Meaghan gasped. "I mean, violins!"

"Hey, I grew up playing the violin!" Marty replied. "It's not all that far removed from the guitar, which I also play. There have been several rock songs that incorporate violin music!"

Now Meaghan was sure he was messing with her. The hot, tanned and toned surfer dude standing in front of her could not possibly play the violin. He had to be trying to make her feel better about tonight. She grinned and reached out to grab his hand, pulling him towards the drawing room. Everyone tracked their progress through the room and towards the door the agents had entered by earlier. "Mom, Dad, I'm going to let Marty play my violin in the music room." Meaghan threw over her shoulder as they exited the room. Deeks's face as he heard her pronouncement was priceless.

The NCIS agents looked stunned. Kensi recovered first, remembering what he had said when they had come across Astrid's cello. "He did say he grew up playing the violin." she stammered out.

Mrs. Shelton spoke up "He had better not break that violin. It's very expensive and hardly used. We bought it years ago for Meaghan but she just wasn't interested. All she wants to listen to is that awful noise she calls music." Kensi felt her hackles rise. If the woman could be any more condescending, she didn't know how. Hard to believe just minutes ago she had seemed pleased that Deeks had gotten her daughter to laugh with him.

Callen and Sam exchanged looks and worriedly started towards the door. "Gentlemen, if we are going to spend the rest of the day chasing down your detective to try to keep him out of trouble, maybe we should get another team in here for protection duty?" asked the Admiral. Callen's lip curled. He really wanted to tell the Admiral what he could do with his protection duty but, he knew Hetty would kill him when he got back to the Mission, so he reluctantly turned back, Sam following.

Meaghan pulled Deeks into a room off the left of the foyer. He stopped in surprise. There was a grand piano taking up a large portion of the room along with several other instruments around the edge. "How many instruments do your family play?" he asked.

"My mother plays the piano, a little. They're mostly just here for show and to allow any guests to play if they know how. My parents gave me this when I was seven. They wanted me to learn an instrument that would be acceptable in higher society." replied Meaghan, pulling a violin out of its case. "I guess I should be grateful they didn't decide I should play the harp!" Deeks laughed with her again but his eyes were tracking the violin Meaghan was handling so roughly. He reached out and took it out of her hand gently. He touched the strings and found it out of tune. Putting it up to his chin, he took the bow from the case and started to tune it. By the look on Meaghan's face, he was pretty sure she had not expected him to know one end from the other.

Once he had it tuned to his liking, he looked at Meaghan. "Any requests? I need to warn you, I haven't played in a while so I'm going to be rusty." He really didn't want to play the instrument. He knew he would never hear the end of it from his team but he had gotten her to begin to trust him and, if it looked like he had lied to her, they would be back in the Kensi boat.

She just looked at him and shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever your favorite is, is fine with me." She didn't want to admit that she had no idea of what music a violin would be used for. She had steadfastly refused to pay attention in any music appreciation class at school and tuned out her mother when she talked about the classical music she liked. She was still not sure he actually knew how to play it.

Taking a deep breath, Deeks put the violin under his chin and did a few warm up chords. Closing his eyes, he began to softly play one of his favorites, one he knew he would be able to play fairly well after all this time. Drawing the bow across the strings, he began Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Meaghan's jaw dropped as she listened.

He tried to keep the music quiet so it would not be heard across the hall but, as he sank into it, he lost contact with the world around him. The only thing he was aware of was the violin and the music. As he gained confidence, he increased the volume without conscious thought and the music could now be heard in the drawing room. Once again, the conversation there petered out. Sam looked at the Sheltons and said "Your daughter is very talented. You must be very proud of her."

The Sheltons looked at him in shock. Mrs. Shelton finally managed to say "My daughter has never played a day in her life, Agent Hanna. She has refused all offers of lessons." The five people in the room stared at each other as they realized the only other explanation was that the beautiful music they were hearing was actually being produced by Deeks.