So here we go! Another chapter...not as long as the previous ones but I think it's got some good stuff in it.
bookdiva is still away, so any mistakes you find are mine. justareader07 is pretty damn awesome figuring out my babble as I run things past him..so as always, a HUGE thank you to him for helping me put my random thoughts into a coherent story.
For the rest of the week, Sophia and the black van could always be found outside of the Deeks apartment. It wasn't always at the same time and she never parked in the same place, but Kensi and Deeks could always spot her. They had become routine in their home life. As soon as they got home, they would grab Monty, take him for a walk down to the beach, hang out for about an hour, come home and call in for take-out.
When Friday afternoon rolled around, Kensi knew she was going to have go home alone for the first time since this started. It wasn't that she couldn't take care of herself – she had been doing that for years – but knowing Deeks was there with her when they went home made the knot in the pit of her stomach lessen. She trusted him more than she had ever trusted anyone, and she knew he would always be there. Except tonight. She would have to enter their home - by herself - knowing there was someone out there that wanted her.
Deeks looked over at her as they packed up their things to leave. He nodded his head slightly towards the shooting range and she nodded, watching him walk away. She took a breath and followed him. As soon as Kensi pulled the door closed behind her, Deeks pulled his LAPD issued Beretta out of his waistband and handed it to her.
"Deeks, what –"before she could finish, he put his finger up to her lips, silencing her.
"Take it. Shoot it. Don't ask questions. Got it?"
Kensi just nodded her head and he took his finger away, replacing it with his lips. He felt her sigh and pulled back, loving the peaceful look on her face. She smiled at him as they both put the safety glasses and ear protection on. Kensi took her stance, firing the gun and hitting the target every time. When the clip was empty, Deeks pulled the ear protection off and walked up, watching as Kensi brought the target to them. Head shots, chest shots and a shot to the groin.
"Remind me never to be on the receiving end of that." He pointed to the target – specifically the spot – and she laughed.
"Don't worry sweetheart. I'm pretty invested in you being whole." Deeks smirked at her as Sam and Callen walked in.
"Good shooting, Kens. Wait, is that Deeks's gun?" Sam pointed to the weapon on the table.
"Yep."
"Wow. Didn't think I'd ever see that. You, G?" Sam looked over at his partner who crossed his arms.
"Nope. Figured the day that happened would be the day they actually became more than partners." He tilted his head at them, smirking.
"I think you guys forgot we've been married a week tomorrow." Deeks took the challenge he saw in their eyes and threw it back at them.
"Fake marriage."
"Details." Deeks shrugged his shoulders, not backing down. He guessed that the two had figured out they were more than partners and were testing them now.
"Okay. We'll give you the point there, Deeks." Sam laughed a little, looking between the two, knowing Deeks had won this one. But he also knew that Callen's comment hadn't been far from the truth. Deeks would never have let Kensi shoot his gun in the past, and the level of intimacy that this gesture showed was more than telling.
"You ready for tonight Kens?" Sam turned his attention to her and she nodded.
"Bring it on." She walked passed them, leading the way to their desks.
"Now, we will be in the car around the corner. Hetty is letting us use the Tahoe since they are bound to know what cars we are normally in. Check in with us when you get there and then take Monty for a walk like normal. We'll be right there with you the whole time. As soon as you get inside from walking Monty, you've got two minutes to check in again before we follow suit. Got it? " Callen's words washed over her, and she felt a little better knowing the guys – especially Deeks – wouldn't be too far away.
"Got it." They all grabbed their bags, heading out the door. Eric and Nell were up in OPS monitoring traffic cams and getting more background info.
They had all learned that the man in the picture Deeks had found was Stan. He had just been introduced to the group and had met Sophia. Deeks and Kensi had never run into him during their time undercover because Stan had been working another case that had just by chance run across theirs, but from what they could gather that was when he had met Sophia.
Deeks walked Kensi to the car, leaning into the window.
"I don't like it."
"Deeks…"
"Kens, just… be careful, okay?" His eyes pleaded with her, letting them show the worry he held but knew wouldn't be received well right now.
"I will, Deeks. I know you and the guys won't be far, and I've heard I can be pretty bad ass when the occasion calls for it." She tried to smile at him, but it fell short.
"I'm serious Kensi. This guy wants you and we don't know what lengths he will go to get what he wants."
Kensi stared at him, her hand reaching over and grabbing his.
"Well, I've got something he doesn't have and it hasn't failed me yet."
Deeks tilted his head at her. "What's that?"
"You."
Deeks let out a breath, squeezing her hand. He wanted to lean over and kiss her, but he wasn't sure where the guys were. Instead, he opted for the famous Deeks smirk.
"Okay then. Now that the vote of confidence is back, what do you say we hopefully end this once and for all?" He winked at her, trying to lighten the mood a little. When she smiled – really smiled – he returned it, this time leaning in and kissing her quickly.
He let go of her hand when he heard the Tahoe pull up, knowing it was time to go separate ways.
"Remember Kens." He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Yeah yeah, I got it Shaggy."
Deeks turned and walked to the SUV. Once Deeks was in, she looked over at the guys, who nodded at her. She gave them a confident smile, put the car in gear and drove home.
Kensi had checked in when she got home, taken Monty for his nightly walk to the beach and headed back home. She knew something was off when she noticed a shadow at the window that disappeared quickly. She put her hand in her pocket, using her memory to get through the menus and shooting off a blind text to Deeks in hopes they would understand. She knew they'd get the message, and if she missed her check in, she had no doubt they'd come in guns blazing.
"Okay Monty. Looks like it's show time." She carefully opened the door, trying to act as normal as possible knowing someone was waiting for her. She had no idea who, or how many, just that there were people invading her home. Monty sensed the unwanted visitors and growled, the hair standing up on his neck.
"What is it, boy? Huh?" She pulled the gun from her pants but was a second too late. Strong arms grabbed her from behind, one taking the gun while the other put her in a choke hold. Well, this will be interesting.
Her years of training kicked in, and she elbowed the man in his stomach hard enough to make him loosen his hold, which was exactly what she was looking for. As soon as she felt his arm lax, she turned, kneeing him in the balls. He crumpled quickly, cursing her as he did so. She quickly landed another kick to his head, leaving his limp body on the floor. She grabbed her gun and turned, ready to defend herself.
"Well well, Kensi, we meet again." Juan Rodriguez was sitting on her couch, watching her. "Impressive moves there. I should have known you wouldn't go down easy." She saw his eyes dart quickly behind her and without hesitating, she turned, shooting Stan in the chest. His shocked eyes turned lifeless as he fell. Suddenly, Juan was behind her grabbing her arms and locking them behind her so she couldn't use them.
Sophia stepped into her view, and Kensi watched as she stared at Stan on the floor. As soon as she looked away from him, Kensi saw the look of hatred shining in her eyes. Instead of being worried about it, she took it as a challenge. Juan had forgotten about the gun in her hands, more intent on securing her arms and she turned it slightly, pulling the trigger. The bullet ripped through his thigh and he screamed, instantly letting her go.
Sophia's expression changed as she charged Kensi, knocking her to the floor. The two wrestled for a minute before Sophia grabbed the gun that had been knocked out of Kensi's hand. Before Sophia could get the upper hand, Kensi used what strength she had left to punch her. Sophia rolled over, gun still in hand and went to stand up. Kensi anticipated this, and as soon as Sophia got her legs underneath her, Kensi rolled, kicking her in the stomach. Sophia fell back, landing on the coffee table which shattered. Kensi immediately stood up, putting her foot on the arm that held the gun and took it, aiming it at her head.
"Move again, and I won't hesitate to pull the trigger." Just as the words escaped her lips, the door burst open and the cavalry arrived.
"Okay, seriously? I sent that text like ten minutes ago. What did you do, stop for coffee?" She still had the gun trained on Sophia, letting Sam and Callen take care of Juan. Deeks rushed forward, gun raised as he took over for her.
"It was three minutes ago, and we got waylaid by Michael James stopping by to chat. Well, chat might be a loose term, seeing as he had a gun in his hand."
"Oh yeah? Well, sorry he missed the party."
"Not sure you needed any added guests." He scanned the area, seeing Monty guarding the unknown man still passed out on the floor in a fetal position, Juan bleeding, Stan dead and Sophia glaring at them both.
"Kensi, did you do what I think you did to that guy?" He nodded his head slightly to the right towards her first attacker. She just shrugged her shoulders at him, watching as he turned Sophia over and put the zip ties on her wrists.
"He should be glad a kick was all he got instead of a bullet."
"Touché."
Kensi opened her mouth to respond in her most favorite way when Deeks turned around, his hand up stopping her.
"Don't you dare."
Kensi glared at him before putting a smirk on her face, mouthing 'touché' back at him. Deeks threw his hands up before letting out a groan, making Kensi laugh a little.
Sam finished clearing the apartment, making sure there were no other surprises waiting for them. He put his gun away, cuffing the unconscious man. Eric had called EMS for them when they let him know that it was going down tonight, and they heard the sirens coming.
"Kens, you good?" Sam walked up to her, visually checking her over. Sometime during the scuffle with Sophia, she had been hit in the face, and she could feel her ribs starting to ache. The adrenaline was wearing off fast and she sat down on the floor.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Callen and Sam looked at each other and then over at Deeks. They all knew what that meant, and only Deeks would be able to get through to her.
"Nope. That doesn't fly Princess." Sam pulled Sophia up while Deeks kneeled in front of Kensi, making her look him in the eye.
"Okay, maybe 'fine' isn't entirely true. I'm gonna be sore as hell tomorrow, but nothing is broken." Deeks ran his hands up and down her arms, noticing the bruises that were starting to form.
"What happened here?" He looked at her, his eyes narrowed.
"Juan grabbed my arms and pulled them back behind me after I shot Stan. He was so focused on securing my arms so he didn't end up like big baby over there he forgot to take the gun." Deeks just laughed and shook his head.
"Jesus Kens." He was starting to come down off the adreneline high too, and he sat beside her, grabbing her hand, both of them needing the contact. She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Glad you showed up when you did. If she decided to keep going I'm not sure I would have been able to last much longer." She whispered it to him, shocking him with the admission.
"Looks like you had it under control in here Fern." He wasn't going to say it out loud, but he hated that she had had to go through this alone. He may have been right outside, trying to get to her as soon as he could once he got the text, but so many things could have gone wrong.
They heard the paramedics coming in, and they reluctantly let their hands go. Deeks stood up, carefully helping Kensi up, too.
She looked around, noticing for the first time the destruction that was caused.
"Oh my God, Deeks." She looked over at him, apology in her eyes.
"Kens, don't worry about it. It's just stuff. What can't be cleaned can be replaced. And you said you didn't like the table anyway. Just gives us a reason to get a new one." She tried smiling at him, knowing he was doing what he could to make her feel better.
"Kensi, the only thing that matters is you. You're okay. You're alive. The good guys win again. I don't care about anything else, okay?" She nodded, and he opened his arms to her, relishing the feel of her. Neither of them cared right now about what the others would think.
Once the paramedics had taken care of Juan and 'big baby', the coroner taking Stan, and Sophia and Michael James secured in the boat shed, Kensi was exhausted. She sat down on the couch in the boat shed, laying her head back. Neither Sophia nor Michael were talking right now, and Kensi couldn't take it anymore. She needed food, she needed sleep… and she needed Deeks. When she felt someone sit down next to her, she opened one eye and looked at him.
"Sam and Callen said we can go home. They will stay and see if they can get any info. If not, we will just let them stew for a while and try again later. Our senior agents aren't going to be here much longer either." He stood up, taking her hand and pulling her up, too.
"Wait, the apartment…"she looked at him and he smiled.
"Don't worry. Pizza will be at your place in half an hour. That gives us a little time to get there and you can have a shower."
"God, you've thought of everything, huh?" He winked at her, putting his hand on her back and guiding her out the door. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Kensi looked over him, admiring his profile before a thought struck her.
"Hey, you said you got held up by Michael and a gun. What did you do with him?"
Deeks glanced over at her, smirking. "Sam punched him and I handcuffed him to the railing." His answer made Kensi laugh a little and she took his hand, closing her eyes for a minute.
Before they knew it, Deeks was pulling up to her old apartment. She didn't even open her eyes as he walked around to her side of the car, lifting her gently into his arms and carrying her inside. He placed her on the couch before opening some windows and turning the fan on to get rid of the musty smell. It had been at least a month since either of them had been there, and he knew it was time to let the place go. The only reason they had kept it was to keep up appearances to the team. But now, it wasn't worth it anymore. Each of them had been through too much in life, and it was time to face the wrath of their family and team and move on from it.
Kensi kept sleeping on the couch as Deeks pulled a beer out. He turned the TV on, scanning the channels for something to watch and opting for America's Next Top Model. They had already seen this episode, but it gave the place background noise.
Five minutes later, the knock on the door signaling the arrival of dinner, Kensi groaned. Deeks paid the delivery guy and closed the door, hurrying over to his wife.
"Hey sweetheart. Wake up baby. Food's here." He saw her eyes flutter before opening and looking at him.
"I can't move. You have to feed me." Deeks chuckled, shaking his head at her.
"Bad Ass Blye needs help?"
"Don't be stupid. Bad Ass Blye has already made her appearance today. Mrs. Marty Deeks wants her husband to take care of her now. You up for the task?" She raised her eyebrows at him, loving the smile that lit his face.
"Yeah, I think your husband can do that. In fact, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind taking on that job for the rest of his life."
"Good. Now, food. And beer." He laughed, standing up.
"Instead of Mrs. Deeks it should be Mrs. Bossy Pants."
"Aren't they one in the same?" Kensi sat up, taking the beer Deeks held out to her. "Thank you, Deeks."
"Anything for you babe." He grabbed a plate, put some pizza on it and held up a piece for her. She hadn't been serious about him feeding her, but it seems he was. She took a bite, sighing. It didn't matter what had happened earlier that day. Right now, life was good.
AN - dropping a review on your way out would be fantastic! Hope you enjoyed it. :)