"Where is it? Seriously, there are only so many places it could be and I've looked at all of them. Great, now I'm talking to myself."

Kensi had sent Deeks off with a smile and a kiss early that morning after he got called in by Nell. She decided she may as well get up and moving herself so she jumped in the shower, got dressed, and ate a leftover piece of pizza for breakfast. Not exactly the breakfast of champions, but what's a girl to do after being away for 4 months? Grocery shopping just wasn't a priority yesterday but it is definitely creeping up the list today. As much as Kensi loves her junk food she does try to balance it out with real, healthy food on occasion. After brushing her teeth Kensi decided she had better track down the misplaced bra from yesterday. She had eventually done a load of laundry last night so that she had some clean lingerie for today, but she didn't want the wrong person, like her Mom, stopping by for a visit and finding her bra in some weird location. The problem was she had looked everywhere she could think of and still couldn't find it. It wasn't behind the couch, or hanging on a picture, or on the kitchen floor, or under the dining room table, or any other of the hundred or more places she looked. It was a very bright purple bra for heaven's sake! It shouldn't be that hard to find! Eventually Kensi ran out of time and needed to head to the boat shed. She was so thankful that Deeks had thought to take a cab so that she could have her car this morning. Could that man get any sweeter?

After an uneventful drive to the boatshed Kensi hopped out of her car ready to face the day. She really just wanted to get the debrief over with so she could put the whole stupid time in Afghanistan behind her and start working with Deeks and the team again. Unfortunately her Morning suddenly took a turn for the worst. There was Sabatino standing in the parking lot waiting for something and she had a bad feeling that the something was her arrival. Yep, sure enough. Here he comes. Kensi took a couple deep breaths and reminded herself to be patient and diplomatic since it is entirely possible she could have to work with him again at some point in the future.

"Hey Kensi."

"Hey."

"Um, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute."

Taking a deep breath Kensi reminded herself to be patient and hear the man out, however if he hit on her again all bets were off. "What's up?" 'Oooh….bad choice of words' Kensi thought, and then tried not to smile so as not to encourage him.

Sabatino took a deep breath and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "See, last night when I left the safe house to go to your place the team knew where I was going and why."

Kensi was starting to get a very bad feeling about this conversation. It was obvious that Sabatino was uncomfortable with this conversation and was trying to work out why he would want to tell her he made a fool of himself in front of their team mates.

Sabatino took another deep breath and soldiered on. "After I left your place I went to a bar just down the road from you I did a bit of drinking and then when the bar was about to close I went for a walk down to the beach where I eventually fell asleep. When I took a cab back to the safe house and walked in all rumpled and sleep deprived this morning they all came to their own conclusion, that I had spent the night with you and was just returning for a shower and change of clothes."

At this point Kensi was standing with her arms across her chest and her mouth hanging open. It took a few seconds but she did eventually pull herself together enough to respond.

"And you said what exactly? You didn't tell them about Deeks and I did you? You did tell them you weren't at my place for long, right?"

"Don't worry. I didn't tell them about you and your partner with benefits." Sabatino said with not a little bit of resentment and disgust. "But I didn't correct them about where I was either."

Kensi's stomach rolled at the realization of what he was saying. "WHAT!? So now our entire team thinks I'm sleeping with you? No, no, no! This is not going to happen. You are going to march your nasty ass into that boat shed and tell them the truth. That you didn't spend more than five minutes at my place before you went and drank yourself into oblivion."

"No, I'm not."

"Fine. Then I'll go tell them myself!" And Kensi began walking straight for the boat shed. She didn't get more than 3 steps in before Sabatino grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"No, you're not. Look, I'm not asking you to lie. I'm just asking you to let them have their assumptions."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you owe me."

"I don't owe you anything."

"Yes you do. You owe me for snooping into my financials and personal life, you owe me for accusing me of being the White Ghost, and you owe me for letting me make a fool of myself for 4 months by not just being honest and telling me you were in a relationship! Hell, I even asked you if you were in a relationship with that bum last year and you lied to my face and denied it!"

"First of all, we weren't in a relationship last year. Second, I was just doing my job. And third, I may not have told you that I was in a relationship, but I never encouraged you or did anything to make you think I would want to dance the horizontal tango with you as soon as we got back! I'm sorry you were embarrassed last night but I'm not sorry enough to go along with your stupid plan."

"All right, then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way. If you tell them the truth about where I was last night then I'll tell them the truth about what, and who, you were doing last night. And that includes Granger."

'Damn, damn, damn.' Kensi thought. 'This guy is truly a bastard of the first order. Hetty can't find out about us until we have had a chance to prove we can work together while in a relationship. I guess it's just for today and if I ever see any of these people again I'll tell them the truth then.' After sorting it out in her head she said "Fine, but if anyone asks me directly if I slept with you I'm not going to lie."

"Alright. I suppose I can live with that. They already think they know what happened so I doubt they'll ask. Now, we better be getting in there before they start making assumptions about what's going on out here."

"Ugh. You really make me sick, you know that?"

"Not as sick as I get thinking about you with that wanna-be-agent. Speaking of which, did you ever find that item you were looking for last night?"

Kensi decided the only way she wasn't going to punch him in the face was to ignore him and keep walking.

"I'll take that as a no. Well, I will say this. I bet that shade of purple looks good on you. You can model it for me any time after you get it down off the ceiling fan." He then gave her a smug smile and opened the door to the boat shed for her. If Granger hadn't been standing right there she would have made sure Sabatino never had to worry about birth control again.

By the time Kensi made it to her seat at the table she had endured knowing looks, obvious conversation changes as soon as she came near, and even a couple of winks. She was so thankful to get to a chair and sit down that she didn't even pay attention to who's jacket or bags were in the chairs next to her. Her stomach was in knots and that piece of pizza was sitting like a brick in her stomach. She pulled out her cell and immediately texted Deeks. She needed the connection and the comfort he gives her in the worst way.

Kensi: Sabatino is an ass!

He must not have been busy at the moment because he texted right back.

Deeks: Yes he is. Do you need me to give him a kick in said ass?

Kensi: I'd like to kick him somewhere much more sensitive.

Deeks: Wow. What's going on my little fire ball?

Kensi: He's blackmailing me.

Deeks: What? For real? How? Why?

Kensi: He said he'd tell everyone, including Granger, about us unless I kept quiet about the fact that he wasn't really at my house and sleeping with me last night. Apparently that's what this entire team believes.

Kensi was so distracted by her conversation with Deeks that she didn't even notice Sabatino had sat down right next to her until "The ass" put his arm around the back of her chair. She looked up from her phone and when she realized who had done what she gave a death glare and was just about to threaten his manhood when Granger stood up and began the meeting. Fortunately the death glare did its job and "The ass" removed his arm from her chair. Kensi's stomach did a little roll and she looked down in her lap to try to get herself under control and to keep from embarrassing herself further by throwing up in front of everyone. While looking down in her lap she saw that she had another text from Deeks.

Deeks: I can't believe him! Baby, I'm willing to risk it and tell everyone if it will put him in his place. You know how much I would love to shout it from the roof tops that you're my girl. Just give me the word. :)

Kensi couldn't help the small smile that came to her face after reading that. He was just too sweet and loving. She could feel her stomach uncoil a bit and felt like she could make it through the day simply because the most amazing man ever was in her corner and thought she was the best thing since sliced bread.

Kensi: No, babe. It's only for a day. He'll be gone from our lives tomorrow and we can keep proving to Hetty that we can be together and be partners. I'll find a way to put him in his place somehow. I better go. Granger is giving me the stink eye. XOXO

Deeks: See you tonight. Let me know if you need me to put fish guts in the trunk of his car or something. I'm going undercover with the guys so I'll be unreachable for a while. XOXOXXXXX

Kensi returned her attention to Granger and listened to him drone on and on about the worst mission ever and how they could have done it better for 3 hours. Finally, Granger had mercy and decided it was time for a lunch break. The crazy thing was that for the first time ever Kensi wasn't hungry. Between Sabatino's blackmail, Grangers re-hashing of the mission, and knowing Deeks was undercover without her at his back she was a tense mess. All she could think was 'That stupid pizza. It feels like it's trying to crawl back up my throat. Maybe eating nothing but burgers and pizza after surviving on MREs and Sabatino's weird cooking for months wasn't such a good idea. It probably wouldn't have hurt to put the pizza in the fridge either. Well, grocery shopping is now at the top of the list of things to do tonight. I can take Deeks with me. Then it won't be so bad.'

Just as Kensi was about to go outside to take a walk on the beach in an attempt to relax and calm her stomach down, Hetty walked in the boat shed. "Ms. Blye, Mr. Sabatino, could you join me for a moment please." She then continued to lead them into the interrogation room.

"What's going on Hetty?" Kensi asked. "Is it Deeks? Callen? Sam? Is everyone o.k?"

"Everyone is just fine Ms. Blye. The reason I've asked you here is that we have need of your services. We received word this morning that there may be a home grown terrorist cell operating out of a local restaurant. Mr. Hannah, Mr. Callen, and Mr. Deeks all went undercover at the restaurant today to investigate. Mr. Hannah is filling in for the bartender, Mr. Callen is in the kitchen, and Mr. Deeks is a waiter. Fortunately the restaurant had these positions posted with a temp agency and we were able to get our people in easily. Now, the team has been able to confirm the intel was good and there is indeed a terrorist cell being run out of this restaurant. The problem is there are more people involved than originally thought and we need a couple more people inside when we send the swat team in in order to keep the bystanders safe. You two will be going in as a couple on a date. The raid is set for 1:30 so you need to get into position soon. Here is the name and address of the restaurant and also your ear wigs. Have fun you two!"

Kensi looked up and saw Sabatino wag his eyebrows at her. Actually wag his eyebrows! "Ugh. Come on" She said. "Let's get this over with." And with that she stormed out of the boat shed and into her car. It's a good thing Sabatino was able to keep up and get in the car quickly because as soon as Kensi was in the car she buckled her seatbelt, started the car, and took off without a single thought of whether or not Sabatino was with her or not.

Meanwhile, Hetty filled Granger in on the op. and explained her need for two of his agents. Granger decided that he would like to observe Sabatino doing undercover work and so decided to suspend the debrief and head to the mission. He asked the team if they would also like to observe the op. and the team, having picked up on the weird vibes between Sabatino and Kensi, decided that it would be fun to watch the operation. So, by 1:00 the entire team from Afghanistan, minus Sabatino and Kensi, had met the wonder twins and were comfortable settled in ops watching and listening as the operation progressed.

At precisely 1:00 Kensi and Sabatino arrived at the restaurant. Sabatino was rather frustrated with how long the drive took. Being stuck in lunch hour traffic in L.A, while sitting next to a scarily calm and silent Kensi was not his idea of a good time. He was looking forward to this op simply because he thought it would require Kensi to be pleasant towards him. He realized he blew any chance of ever getting together with the blackmail, but he just wasn't ready to lose face in front of the entire team. Besides, he saw how Kensi looked at Deeks and knew she probably wasn't one to give pet names like "babe" to just anyone. They were serious, and if all the alcohol did nothing else last night, it did help him in his journey to acceptance of that fact. Now, the best he could hope for was to enjoy this "date" with Kensi and say his goodbyes.

Kensi had no intentions of enjoying this "date". She was seriously pissed that Hetty had put her in this position. Now her stomach was twisting at the thought of having to sit and smile at Sabatino, and it was simply rolling when she thought of Deeks watching her, and probably serving her, during her "date" with Sabatino. How she collected herself enough to put her ear wig in and walk towards the restaurant she will never know, and how she kept from decking Sabatino when he placed his hand on her lower back as they walked into the restaurant could only be described as miraculous. Instead she turned to him after walking through the door and said quietly through her teeth "Don't touch me." That was the first of many things that afternoon that made the team up in ops raise their eyebrows and realize their assumptions of their two teammates were obviously incorrect.

Sabatino, by this point, had nearly realized just how upset Kensi was. However, they did have a mission here that needed to come first so he quietly said "We're supposed to be on a date. Play nice."

"Then keep your hands to yourself and I'll be happy."

The hostess approached them and confirmed there were just the 2 in their party and then led them to a small, round table in the back corner of the restaurant. "Will this be alright?" the hostess, Mandy, asked. At the nod of their heads she set the menus down and informed them that their server, Tim, would be there momentarily to take their drink orders. Kensi sat at the far side of the table so that she could view the entire room with her back safely against the wall. Apparently Sabatino had the same idea and he pulled his chair over so that it was right next to Kensi's. Mandy thought it was really sweet that the gentleman wanted to sit right next to the lady, but in reality Sabatino just wanted the same view that Kensi had.

Kensi looked over at Sabatino and glared at him. She did not appreciate his closeness or how he put his arm around the back of her chair as Deeks (A.K.A Tim) approached their table.

Deeks was amazing at undercover work and was able to keep his facial features and voice pleasant when he came to the table. He quickly introduced himself and asked for their drink orders.

"I'll have scotch on the rocks please."

"Ginger ale for me please." Kensi said as she sent a small smile Deeks' way.

Deeks let his cover drop for a moment as he looked at Kensi worriedly. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, it's just that between eating the leftover pizza for breakfast and a really crappy day, my stomach isn't at its best."

Deeks dropped his voice so the other tables couldn't hear him "I should have put the pizza in the fridge. I'm sorry. Do you think you should go home?"

"No, I'll be ok. Thanks."

At this point the guys decided they couldn't ignore the conversation they could hear through their coms any longer and Sam jumped in with "Hmmm….couldn't be bothered to put the pizza in the fridge, huh? What else do you think they could have been doing?"

Sam answered with "They could have been watching bad reality T.V. No, there are always commercial breaks to jump up and put away the food. Maybe they were sleeping? Jet lag and all that."

"I think we're getting warmer, Sam. Right room of the house anyway."

Kensi thought she better jump in this conversation quick before it went any further. "Knock it off guys! We are not having this conversation, not now, and not ever!"

Suddenly Grangers voice was booming in everyone's ears. "Can we focus on the op rather than Ms. Blye's evening please? Is everyone in position?"

"Yes sir"

"Yep"

"Ready"

"Of course"

"Uh huh"

"SWAT team is in place. We'll go on your word Callen."

Sabatino, realizing his "date" was about to come to an end decided to get just one more word in with Kensi. He leaned over and whispered into Kensi's ear, the one without the earwig, and said "You would have had a lot more fun last night with me."

That was it. The visual of Sabatino kissing her, touching her, making love to her, caused her stomach to give one last big roll. Kensi knew in that instant her battle to keep that pizza down was lost. She jumped up to try to make it to the restroom but Sabatino was blocking her path and she was trapped in that little corner. She vaguely heard Callen give the SWAT team the order to come in just as she leaned over Sabatino and heaved all over Sabatino's head and lap. Once she threw up that first time she lost all control and it just kept coming. She hadn't had much to eat today but she had been drinking water. Still she was surprised at just how much her stomach pushed out.

When her stomach finally stopped cramping she felt very weak so she just sat back down in her seat and took a few deep breaths. Once she looked up she realized the whole op had gone down while she was sick. The bystanders were being corralled and escorted outside and the SWAT team had all of the terrorists face down on the floor with their hands zip tied behind their backs. Then she looked at Sabatino. She didn't ever think she could feel badly for Sabatino, but at that moment she did. He just sat there with his head bowed, covered from head to toe in undigested pizza, water, and stomach bile. After a moment of remorse her next thought was 'Man, I should chew better.'

For his part Sabatino didn't know what to think. Most of his energy was spent on not throwing up himself and adding to the mess. He couldn't even look up to find the restroom without risking having puke run into his eye or mouth.

Deeks, having seen Kensi get sick out of the corner of his eye, finished securing the scene as quickly as possible so he could go take care of Kensi.

"Kens, are you ok?"

"I'm a little shaky, but my stomach actually feels a lot better."

Deeks pulled the table out of the way so he could get to Kensi. He immediately knelt down in front of her and brushed her hair out of her face and then caressed her forehead, cheeks and neck.

"You don't feel feverish. Do you think you can make it to the bathroom to wash up?"

"Yeah. Come with me?"

"Anything for you Sugar bear."

As Kensi began to stand Sam came up and threw a couple bar towels at Sabatino and then made a quick exit to get away from the smell.

Deeks pulled Kensi into his side and said "I guess we don't need those fish guts after all. I'm pretty sure we can consider him put in his place. Good work partner."

Despite how lousy she felt Kensi couldn't help but look up at her boyfriend and smile.

Meanwhile up in ops you could hear a pin drop until Eric breathed out a quiet "Wow". Then the entire room, having realized Sabatino deserved anything he got for being a big enough ass to let them assume he had spent the night with Kensi, burst into laughter.