Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: LA or any of its characters.
Chapter 7 - Discovering the News
KENSI'S POV
A little less than two hours later...
"Hey guys, sorry I'm in so late, I just needed a couple more hours to take care of some personal busin-" Kensi began as she walked into the Bullpen. "Woah, Sam, why are you sitting at Callen's desk and Callen, why are you sitting at my desk?" She was very confused, and slightly annoyed. No body messed with her stuff. Ever.
"We aren't," was all Callen said in response, before pointing to the name plates on his and Sam's desks.
"Hetty, and maybe a little Nate," was all Sam said, when Kensi raised her one of her eyebrows at him, silently seeking an explanation.
That, while very little, was all the explaining she needed. She knew better than to question Hetty's decisions, especially when she had not given Hetty's decision a chance to play itself out, first. So, Kensi sat down at her desk, pulled out her laptop, and began to get to work, first checking her emails. But, something was nagging at the edge of her mind. Something was off, but she couldn't figure out what it was.
And then, it hit her.
She took one look at what was supposed to be her partner's desk, and saw that none of his stuff was on it, and his bag was nowhere to be found. She opened the top desk drawer, where he kept some personal things, like a tennis ball to toss at the wall when he was bored, as well as some of his 'pranking' materials, and saw that the drawer was empty.
"Guys," Kensi began, not even trying to mask the irritation plainly evident in her voice, "Where the hell is Deeks' crap, and where the hell is Deeks?!" Immediately her fears began to all play out in her head. Hetty could have fired him. Vance or Granger could have fired him. All three, plus Bates, could have removed the position of LAPD Liaison Officer to the NCIS: OSP in LA. Granger could have sent him on some crap op without backup. Bates could have sent him on some long-term LAPD undercover op. But, there was one thing that hadn't even occurred to her, one thing that her brain did not imagine, one thing that she was convinced was not possible.
"We don't know. He put a piece of paper on Hetty's desk and walked out with all his stuff in a box this morning," Sam said trying to keep Kensi calm by keeping his voice low and smooth.
"What happened? Why did he do that?" She could tell there was something that Sam was holding back, something he thought would be better if she didn't know. "Callen, what the hell happened?" Callen had never sugar-coated things for her, and he knew better than to keep things from her, especially when she was glaring at him like she was now. It would only turn out worse for him in the end if he kept things from her now.
"Sam and I were talking about this new arrangement on the way into the gym this morning, and it was like 8:15, so I was sure Deeks wasn't here, because he's never even on time, and I kinda said some things I shouldn't have..." He was hoping she'd leave it at that.
"Like what?!" She began to raise her voice, and Callen could tell that pretty soon, she would blow a gasket, so he quickly continued.
"Well, I told Sam maybe this new seating arrangement would be good for everyone, because we all needed to reconnect, repair, et cetera with our partners. And then I said something about how you and Deeks have been pretty much at each others' throats for a while now, and if you didn't fix things soon, it could end up costing someone their life. I kinda said something about it being a liability to the team, too." He was extremely nervous, at this point. He was known for his ability to keep his cool, no matter how much pressure he was under, and now, he was very nearly shaking out of plain fear. He had heard from Deeks that Kensi practices shooting targets in their groin in the Shooting Range, and he couldn't help but begin to imagine Kensi doing that to him, right there in the Bullpen.
He was petrified.
"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU SAY THAT?! HE'S SAVED ALL OUR ASSES AT SOME POINT! HE WITHSTOOD THE MOST HELLISH TORTURE I'VE EVER SEEN TO SAVE SAM'S WIFE THE SAME DAY SAM SAID THAT HE DIDN'T TRUST DEEKS BECAUSE OF HIS CHARACTER! ONE OF THE FIRST CASES HE WORKED WITH US HE WAS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND YOU ENOUGH IN TWO SEPARATE HOSTAGE SITUATIONS TO OPERATE SO THAT NO ONE EXCEPT THE HOSTAGE TAKER WAS HURT! HE'S KEPT ME FROM LOSING CONTROL MORE TIMES THAN I COULD EVER COUNT! HE PUT HIS CAREER ON THE LINE FOR HETTY EVEN THOUGH HE WASN'T REALLY ONE OF US! THE TWO OF YOU HAVE TREATED HIM LIKE SHIT SINCE THE DAY YOU FIRST MET HIM, AND NOW, I'VE LOST THE ONLY PERSON I'VE BEEN ABLE TO TRUST SINCE JACK!" Everyone in the Mission had heard her yelling, came to see what was happening, and since ran back to wherever it was they were coming from, trying to escape her wrath. She was on a torrent, and anyone in her way was in trouble. And Sam and Callen had nowhere to go...
...And then, it hit her: She had lost Deeks, her partner, the man whom she loves. Yes, LOVES. He was gone. She ran away from him when he kissed her, and never talked about it with him. She never apologized to him. She never told him she felt the same way. And now, she would never get the chance..."Oh my god, Deeks is gone...!" She broke down right there in the middle of the Bullpen, she curled up into a ball, and began sobbing.
Meanwhile, in Hetty's office...
HETTY'S POV
Humming one of Frank Sinatra's classic tunes, Hetty was pouring herself some tea from Afghanistan that Callen had brought back when she had sent the team out there to a tea house to catch the man who had murdered a member of an élite team of soldiers. She then turned to her desk, and sat down, and it was then that she noticed Mr. Deeks ID badge on her desk, on top of what looked like a letter. Reading it, she could not help but lose control of her emotions, as a couple of tears fell from her eyes, and she dropped her tea-cup, it and the small plate shattering on the floor and the tea spilling all over her very expensive rug. But she did not care about that. All she could think about was Deeks going back to working cases without any backup, without any special knowledge, just what he could figure out while under, alone, for months and months at a time. She knew Mr. Deeks had been in a bad place, and she had thought that the team would have been more careful about what they said around him, but she did not blame the team. She blamed herself. She had ever since Sidarov had taken Mr. Hanna and Mr. Deeks. She should have had at least one unit ready to move ever since the case began, because she knew that, if a nuclear bomb was discovered, she would have to move extremely quickly to recover it, or politics would result in her being blamed any complications that resulted from the case. She shouldn't have left Sam with only one man for backup, nor should she have left Michelle with only one man for backup. And she NEVER should have brought Janvier into this mess.
She began to think back on her entire career; of all the mistakes she had made, the agents she had lost, the criminals and enemies that had gotten away, she could not help but feel that losing Mr. Deeks was her biggest mistake, and would forever be her biggest regret, of all...
I would love to hear what you guys think, as well as any tips on how to improve my story telling. I can't help but feel that I could tell everything that I am telling now in a more captivating way. I would even love it if someone wanted to rewrite one of my chapters in a way that they thought told the same story in a more interesting way!
As always, I would appreciate any and all reviews! And, of course, don't be gentle, be genuine!
