"Mr Deeks, a word?" Hetty asked once she had entered the bullpen, staring at the four men who had recently left the showers once leaving the gym, before her eyes settled on the liaison in question. He raised an eyebrow before shrugging and followed her to the little platform that served as her office.
"What can I help you with Hetty?"
"Your partners, Mr Deeks. Any reason why you've had so many?" He looked at her oddly before throwing his head back and chortling quietly.
"I haven't had as many as you're insinuating Hetty. Only a few and they've only left because of family or better things."
"Mr Peterson over there is the seventh since Miss Blye's abrupt departure. She's been gone for approximately fifty-"
"Fifty six weeks, give or take a few days, yes I know Hetty. I count each day as they come and go. I don't change my phone number in case she decides to ring. I take Monty for walks to her favourite places in the hopes that we'll see her. I've watched every episode of Top Model just in case she missed one or them all so I can tell her about them. I can tell you every word of Titanic." He ran a hand through his messy blonde curls and looked at her with sad eyes. "Me and Monty miss her so much. There's just an empty space."
"Why is it so hard for you to let someone else in?"
"Because if I can't fully trust the woman I love and then she just packs up and leaves, who am I meant to trust? If the rest of the team hadn't been going through the same, I might have just packed up myself. That's why I can trust them, because they weren't trusted enough by Kensi either."
"Mr Deeks-"
"No Hetty. I get that you care about all of us, and I know you're going to say it's been over a year. I know that. But it's Kensi. She was a daughter to you, a sister to these lot, my best friend and the woman that I had fell hopelessly in love with. I trust my life in her hands and I'm barely managing to cope with the guys having my back. I need her and I'll find her so please, let me carry on as I am. I'm not pushing the partners that work with me away, I'm being civil and saving their lives. Because I don't want to have a friendship where I give them my trust does not mean the end of the world."
Hetty sat there silently, watching him over the rim of her teacup as he squirmed in his seat awkwardly. "As you wish Mr Deeks." She took a sip of her tea before turning to the laptop on her desk, effectively dismissing him though he sat there for a little bit longer, looking confused, before getting up and returning to his own desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he purposely ignored the others as they tried to find out why he'd been sent to the principal's office and she watched sag slightly with relief when Eric's whistle sounded out through the building.
~AHC~
Deeks couldn't help but be slightly relieved when Eric's whistle sounded. The boys had been subtly badgering him for details, which he didn't want to give, and he was close to snapping uncharacteristically. They meandered up the stairs, Deeks practically sprinting to get away from their curious looks, and wandered into Ops before turning to Nell and allowing Callen to ask, "What have we got?" Nell tapped her pad and faced the big screen.
"Dead marine found in alley way by a mum walking home from school this morning. Two gunshots to the chest at close range. The victim's name is William Parker, quite high up in intelligence and drones."
"Chances are that he spilled?" Deeks asked, head tilted to the side as he looked at the picture of a dead William. Eric took over.
"Likely, though to who, we don't know yet. His bank statements show large amounts of cash sent into his account every month before he withdrew them; either keeping it at home or sending it to a bank somewhere else with a fake identity."
"On his person the police found bags of cocaine, worth $300,000 on street value." Nell added. Callen nodded and looked at Deeks.
"You and Kurt go to his home, see what you can wrangle up and check for any more drugs or money. We'll go to the crime scene and see if we can pick anything up. Family?" He asked as a late thought, turning to Nell and Eric. They shook their heads.
"Only child and his parents died last year. Addresses for his home and the crime scene are sent to your phones." Nell commented before rushing to her computer to get a start on the money tracing.
Deeks grabbed his phone from his pocket as he walked out of the room, reading the text of the address before closing it and clicking onto a note. Adding a tally, he locked the phone and placed it back in his pocket, leading the way out of the building to his car, ignoring his partner's attempts of a conversation.
Another case, another day without Kensi.
Short chapter, I know but I'm sticking to my plan and this was all that was meant to be in this chapter. But what a treat for all the lovely reviews I got for the last chapter (thank you all of you!) and you get another chapter so close to the last one. As always, I love all that are supporting me and REVIEW please xox