Kensi stripped off her sweaty running clothes, and stepped under the spray of hot water in the shower. The first thing she had done after returning to Deeks' place, though, had been to wake the sleeping man.
She let the hot water pour down over her, and hoped that it would finish washing away the memory of that creepy voice from earlier. She felt so tense though.
"How was the run, Sunshine?" A familiar set of arms wrapped around Kensi's waist and pulled her back gently. "You and Monty have fun?"
Kensi rolled her eyes though unseen by the shaggy-haired man standing behind her. "Fun…yeah, something like that." She replied plainly.
"You seem tense." Deeks pointed out. He began massaging her shoulders under the continuous spray of hot water pouring out from the showerhead above them.
The feel of his strong hands firmly caressing the muscles of her upper back and shoulders was relaxing—very relaxing. Everything else began to slip away, and she soon felt as though she could just melt into him there in the shower.
Then she snapped back to reality all too aware of where her previous line of thought could eventually lead. That destination was off limits for the time being—at least until after work. Work!
"We can't do this—not now." She said finally.
Deeks stood staring straight ahead with a look of disappointment painted across his face. "Aww, come on Kens—we got time." He whispered as he bent his head down close to her ear.
Kensi pulled away, and turned to face the shaggy-haired man. "No, we can't. We've got to get ready for…" Her words faltered short of their final destination as she took in the sight of Deeks standing naked in the shower with her.
The way the hot water drizzled over his chiseled figure was mesmerizing in a way, and made her want to reach out and touch him—as if to explore his body for the very first time.
"What?" Deeks asked with a chuckle.
The look he saw on Kensi's face at that moment was quite amusing, and reminded him of an adult film he'd been tricked into watching down at the precinct a couple of years back. The girl in that film was a virgin and had never seen a man naked before, and that was what Kensi looked like to him right then.
"See something you like?" he asked with a tiny smirk. "You can touch it if you like." He offered.
She stepped forward not taking her eyes off of his muscular frame, and gently ran a hand over the hard muscles of his upper torso. Each one was firm, tanned, and perfectly toned—all this equaled out to one sexy, surfer dude.
She ran her hands up the length of his chest marveling at how firm it felt under her fingertips, and then eventually found herself staring up into Deeks' face. "You're so…hard." She murmured as a look of awe sparkled in her eyes.
Deeks let out another chuckle as he pulled the beautiful brunette into his arms. "In more ways than one." He pointed out as he seized her lips with his own.
Kensi moaned against his lips as his growing erection pressed against the inside of her thighs. Next to come was an overwhelming hunger for that which he so openly offered, and she soon realized that she had fallen beyond the 'point-of-no-return'. She had to have him now, or else she'd be unable to focus for the rest of the day. "Damnit." She swore under her breath in a low tone.
"What was that?" he asked, pulling back slightly. A smile was playing across his face as he stared down at his partner.
"You've got ten minutes." She told him sternly as she pressed herself against him and planted a full on kiss against his lips.
"That's it—only ten." He coughed. "That's cutting it a bit close, don't you think?"
"Not my problem." She breathed as she ran her lips down hungrily down the side of his neck and onward towards his muscular chest.
Deeks laughed and pulled her up into his embrace once more. He kissed her, and as he devoured her luscious lips with his own he pushed her backwards until he had her pinned against the far wall of the shower. "How about I just take my time." He offered between kisses.
"No," she breathed hungrily. "If we're late, Hetty'll-" she started to say.
"Sweetie, I've been to the principal's office many times…its really not that bad." He remarked humorously.
It wasn't really Deeks' style to rush something as delicate as what he and Kensi were currently engaged in—to do so just seemed so dirty and scummy, in his mind at least.
"Deeks, no…if we're gonna do this, then we need to-" her words failed her yet again, but this time was because her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a gasp that escaped her throat as Deeks carefully pushed his way past her tender folds. "Shit." She moaned aloud as the muscles inside contracted around his perfect size.
"-We're gonna do this right." Deeks told her softly as he planted another gentle kiss against the gorgeous woman's lips.
The duo strolled into the mission about an hour late for work after having stopped for coffee at Starbucks on the way in. They were never late for work, and there were good reasons for that too. This morning though had been slightly different from other mornings.
Deeks had noticed something off about his own cup of coffee this morning, and he'd detected the subtle difference almost as soon as the first drop touched his tongue. The unfamiliar taste had started out sort of sickly sweet, but the more he consumed of the brown liquid the milder and milder it got, until it finally became just a bland after taste stuck in the back of his mouth.
He wasn't worried or anything, he just figured maybe the barista had used a different kind of creamer than what she normally used for his particular brew of choice.
"I'm telling you this coffee tastes different…which isn't to say it tastes bad—just funny." Deeks insisted between sips of his Starbucks coffee.
Kensi shook her head as she entered the bullpen area. "And I'm telling you it's all in your head." Kensi threw back just as insistently as her partner before.
"Think what you like Kens, but I my head is perfectly fine—not a thing wrong with it. Unlike this coffee, if it can even be called that at this point." He pointed out to the female federal agent.
"Ahem!"
Kensi and Deeks stopped what they were doing and looked up towards what had sounded like someone clearing their throat loudly.
"Eric?" Kensi said upon seeing the tech specialist leaning over the banister at the top of the stairs into Ops.
"Need something there buddy!" Deeks asked as he set his stuff down by his own desk.
Eric looked a little nervous. "We're, um…we're all waiting for you guys up here." He told them, glancing over his shoulder anxiously.
Only then did either of them realize that they were the only ones currently in the bullpen area of the mission. The rest of their little team was missing from the picture.
Kensi and Deeks walked together towards the stairs only stopping once they reached the bottom of the staircase. "Everyone else here yet?" Kensi asked.
"Uh yeah, Callen and Sam are already up here—So is Nell." Eric informed them. "And Hetty's-"
"Right behind you." Hetty finished Eric's sentence from where she stood hidden from view behind Deeks and Kensi. The partners spun around and found themselves face-to-face with the tiny woman they called 'boss'.
"Hetty!" they both said in unison, slight surprise evident in their voices.
Hetty looked the two partners over once, and then twice searching for any telltale signs that might offer clues as to the reason for their tardiness. "You're both an hour late this morning." The tiny woman pointed out sternly. "I trust everything is alright?"
"Yeah, we're good." Kensi replied as normally as she could. She wasn't quite ready to tell Hetty, or anyone else for that matter, that she had been sleeping with her partner—that she knew would be kind of awkward to explain any way.
"Very good." Deeks chimed in over the top of his coffee cup. He was thinking of course about their sexy romp the night before and their steamy little interlude in the shower just before leaving for work.
Kensi elbowed him in the ribs without warning, and the shaggy-haired man lurched back slightly from the impact of the blow. "Oomph, yow that one hurt." He grunted as he rubbed the new sore spot on his upper torso.
Kensi smiled nervously back at Hetty, and gave a small laugh as she tried her best to cover Deeks' near slip-up. "We just…had a little car trouble this morning. Nothing to worry about though—It's all taken care of now." She lied, hoping it was convincing enough that Hetty wouldn't think much more of it.
Hetty studied the partners for a long moment before speaking up again. She knew that they were hiding something from her, but she decided not to press them for any more than they were willing to share at the moment. Later on, Hetty would come to regret not asking the question that currently rested just at the tip of her tongue.
"I see." Hetty said plainly. "Well, as long as its taken care of—we'll just leave it be for the time being. Right now, we have a case that was sent to us straight from the Director himself." She informed them as she walked past and headed up the flight of stairs that led into the Ops Centre.
"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Callen quipped as Kensi strolled into Ops behind Hetty. Kensi shot the team leader a mean look as she took her place by her partner.
"You're late." Sam pointed out, to both Deeks and Kensi.
"We had some car trouble, okay." Kensi said defensively. The last thing she needed was to have her teammates giving her a hard time.
"Is that what we're calling it now?" Deeks joked, with a devilish grin that his partner could not see. He felt Kensi's elbow slam into his ribs, hard, once again. He grabbed at his now aching ribs and rubbed them lightly.
"Is it too late to request a new partner?" Deeks asked jokingly. "I think this one might be broke. She keeps hitting me for no reason." He added.
Kensi feigned a smile for her other teammates, and shifted away from Deeks a little bit to the right.
Hetty cleared her throat loudly to get everyone's attention refocused where it belonged. Everyone turned to face the tiny woman standing at the front of the room near Eric and Nell.
"If we're all through with our morning pleasantries," she began eyeing each of her agents individually. "Perhaps we can get underway. Mr. Beal, if you would please."
Eric nodded as Hetty stepped off to one side to allow him room to move. The tech specialist ran his fingers over his tablet, and several images appeared on the giant viewing screen.
"Omar Shariff is an Iraqi defector who re-located from his home overseas to the U.S. 5 years ago." Eric explained, as he highlighted an image from the center of the screen. "He traded valuable information and his expertise regarding the workings of the Iraqi Military, in exchange for asylum here in the states."
"Why is he important to us?" Callen asked, looking over at Eric.
"Well he's-" Eric started.
"-He's missing." Nell interrupted her colleague.
"Still not seeing it?" Sam spoke up from his spot off to the side. He was studying the information displayed across the viewing screen very closely though.
"Why not let them finish." Hetty suggested.
"Right." Eric said, with a nod at his boss. His fingers danced across his tablet once again, and a second later another photo appeared on the screen next to the first photo. "His handler, CIA Special Agent Martin Addler, was found dead last night—he had been looking for Shariff for two days prior to his death."
"Hmmph." Callen looked over his shoulder at his partner. "CIA…what do you think Sam?"
Sam shrugged. "Should be fun." Sam replied with a feigned grin.
"Yeah, Fun?" Kensi huffed from her spot in the back.
"Special Agent Martin Addler was an ex-Marine, who joined the agency shortly after his term of service ended in 1999." Nell added.
"I see it now." Callen quipped as he folded his arms across his chest.
Deeks gave a stifled cough that seemed to rattle his chest a bit. Kensi glanced over at her partner out of concern.
"Anyway, the last project they collaborated on was a joint CIA/Marine Special Forces Op, Operation Varsity—which is classified at present." Eric explained. "Director Vance has requested, on behalf of the SecNav, that NCIS look into Addler's death and Shariff's disappearance, and find out if it's related to Varsity and whether or not the project has been compromised."
"Eric and I did some digging, on a tip from an anonymous source, and we found what looks to be a promising place to start—Saaed and Kareem Shariff." Nell informed the team as two more photos appeared on the viewing screen.
"Let me guess," Deeks tried, squinting at the viewing screen from the back of the room near Kensi. "His brothers?"
"That is correct, Mr. Deeks." Hetty said from the corner.
"Right, the two brothers were flagged by their passports as they departed a plane which landed at LAX three days before Shariff was reported missing." Eric added. "Our intel puts them in a subdivision in Malibu."
"No way that's a coincidence." Deeks remarked, shifting where he stood.
Callen stood up straight and moved a little bit closer to the viewing screen. "Deeks is right," the team leader said as he scratched at his chin. "Eric, whose else knew about Omar Shariff at the agency?"
Eric's fingers once again played across his tablet until he found the right information. "Uhh, Frank Dekker." Eric said finally. "He's actually stationed here in L.A." the tech specialist added.
Callen nodded. "Good. Sam and I will pay Agent Dekker a visit." Callen said, as he turned to face his team.
"I'll send the address to your phone." Nell remarked, as she played with her own tablet. Callen nodded.
"Kensi and Deeks will track down the two brothers. Bring'em in if you can." Callen continued.
"Malibu, here we come." Deeks said with a big smile. Kensi rolled her eyes at the shaggy-haired man.
"I urge each and every one of you to be extremely cautious out there." Hetty said, stepping out of her shadowy corner of the room. "And good luck."
"We'll be careful Hetty." Kensi replied, as she and the rest of the team began to shuffle out of the room.
As they made their way down the steps back to the bullpen, Kensi noticed that Deeks' cough was becoming somewhat persistent at this point. "You alright there partner?" she asked, as they neared the bottom of the steps.
"Yeah…must've swallowed wrong or something." He said dismissively of his cough.
Kensi thought for a moment about pressing him further, but then decided not to. They really needed to be focused on their jobs at that moment anyway.
Outside, Sam and Callen were the first to depart in Sam's Challenger. Kensi and Deeks were just climbing into Kensi's SRX as the Challenger wheeled out of sight down the street.
Deeks climbed into the passenger's seat and Kensi slipped easily behind the wheel. Within a minute or so the duo was finally out on the road headed for Malibu.
"Look, Deeks," Kensi said after a while of driving. "I'm sorry about…you know, how I treated you back there." She said apologetically.
"Its cool." He said without thinking, between sudden multiple coughs. "Don't worry about it."
"No, I am though." She admitted. "Its just that…I think we should lay down some rules for when we're at work—you know, regarding our 'relationship'."
Deeks chuckled through his dark sunglasses. "And what, pray tell, is the status of said relationship?" Deeks asked humorously with a lopsided grin.
Kensi glanced at her partner with a confused look. "Well, I just though…after last night and this morning…I mean aren't we technically-" the female federal agent stumbled helplessly around her words.
Deeks chuckled again, after another set of coughs, and then leaned towards the beautiful brunette sitting next to him. "Chill, will ya." He said quietly. "I was only messing with you, babe." He told her sweetly.
Kensi released one hand from the steering wheel and used it to punch her partner in the shoulder. "Don't ever do it again." She warned him with a playful smirk.
When they finally arrived at their destination Deeks' cough had seemed to dissipate somewhat. This was due primarily to the fact that Kensi kept a bottle of cough syrup in her SRX at all times just in case of emergencies.
The duo had made their way up the front walk towards the front door of the little house registered to their suspects. "You sure you're okay now?" Kensi asked, as they reached the door.
Deeks nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." He replied. It was only partly a lie, and nothing to get upset about he thought to himself.
"Good." Kensi said with a quick nod. She knocked on the door and the partners waited for someone to answer.
The door finally opened, and a man with tanned skin and a dark-colored beard stood before them. Kensi flashed her badge at the man, and began to speak.
"NCIS-Federal Agents. We need you and your brother to-" her sentence fell short as the bearded man turned and yelled something into the house.
Suddenly the door slammed shut in Kensi and Deeks' face, and then they heard scrambling sounds coming from inside the house. "They're running." Deeks said as he pulled his sidearm from its side-holster.
"I think you maybe right." Kensi replied. "I'll go this way. You take the back." She added quickly, as she produced her own sidearm.
"On it." Deeks said with a nod. The shaggy-haired man began to move quickly around towards the back of the house.
"Hey," Kensi called out before losing sight of her partner. "Be careful." She told him.
"Hey, its me Kens." Deeks said, flashing that trademark smile that always melted Kensi's heart.
…TBC…