Much love to everyone for the reviews! I believe that this story will be a total of 11 chapters and a short epilogue, but I love this universe so much that I'm already trying to think of ways to come up with new adventures (and other things) for these two.


If there was one thing he had actually enjoyed about being human-less, it was the extra sleep. Sleep was amazing. It was like setting a machine to minimal usage in order to save battery power, but it actually charged the batteries instead of just conserving them. He needed to be fully charged during dangerous times like this, and the knee in his back and arms over his legs throughout the night were not helping to get him there. The knee in the back was especially uncomfortable. It wasn't like he'd just taken seven bullets back there or anything.

Every human managed to disrupt his sleep. Dave stayed up super late and flooded his ears with the sounds of "oh yeah, that's the shit" from whichever female he decided to pleasure on a given night. Jess watched TV in bed and snored right in his ear. Plus, she repeatedly snoozed the most annoying alarm in the world every single morning until the one time she just never heard it. At least Kensi was pretty quiet, but she basically transformed into a snuggly human starfish as soon as her head hit the pillow.

It was almost time to get up, and Deeks didn't want to. Even with his disrupted sleep and internal complaints, it was nice to share a bed with someone again.

Another reason to stay in bed was a gut feeling he just couldn't shake. Something bad was going to happen today. Unfortunately he didn't know what, where, when, or how it was going to go down yet. Like he'd told Kensi - he didn't know everything. Sometimes he thought it would be easier if he knew much less than he did. Any of the skills other than sense would have been great. Flying, now that would have been an awesome skill to have been created with. For one, it's badass as hell. Secondly, he was pretty sure that humans couldn't learn to fly just because their Companion could.

Deeks kept telling Kensi that she was imagining things when she'd say she could feel him, simply because that's what he wanted to be true. It took Jess years to understand that her ability to sense and feel was heightened with him. Dave never did know that he could have utilized his wingman powers to an even greater extent than he already did. For Kensi to already be realizing it after only one week was unheard of. Bonding to someone new was something he didn't think his brain was capable of doing again, nor did he even want to try. Yet it was happening anyway. Maybe it wouldn't have with most other humans, but apparently she was a good choice for him.

Kensi was, by nature, extremely curious and would have made a great detective a century or two ago. He didn't think she belonged in this world they lived in now, like her soul was born in the wrong day and time. What she did now, defending the innocent against unnecessary violence, was unbelievably brave. In another world though, she could have led armies or saved the whole world from the shit that it had become.

Yes, Deeks had begun to grow fond of his annoying human. Flaws aside, he thought of her that way - as his, to protect and care for as long it was necessary. He didn't even yell at her when she used his gun during the shootout the other day. Granted, desperate times called for desperate measures, but he was still particular about his pistol. In a world where he depended on humans for so much, his gun was his and his alone. That blind shot she'd made with a weapon she'd never even fired before should have made him jealous (if that was an emotion he had been given).

"No, don't," Kensi whined in her sleep, tugging his legs closer to her chest. "It looks like a sweater. Put your shirt back on."

"So weird." Deeks tried to untangle himself from her grip but she only grasped him tighter, and in a very inappropriate place. He sighed, trying to will her to wake up so she could realize her mistake. Unfortunately, she just smiled in her sleep. Awkward. "Kensi, wake up! Boundaries!"

"What?" She lifted her head and blinked sleepily.

"I'm going to order a moratorium on you touching my junk. Frankly, I think you're a bit too fascinated and it concerns me."

"Your junk?" She glanced down at the positioning of her hand and jumped straight off the bed. "Ugh, gross!"

Deeks rolled the opposite direction off the bed, glad to be free from her grasp at last so he could stretch. "And even more insight into why you're single."

"You're so unpleasant before you've had coffee," she said, shaking her head.

"Guilty. In a perfect world, they would have programmed Companions not to fall prey to such human weaknesses as caffeine. But as it is, I need it."

"And what do you mean, insight into why I'm single?" Kensi grumbled. "Being weirded out by your anatomical correctness is very different from any desire I might have for the real thing. Which, by the way, I may never get a chance to see again thanks to you. I can't even imagine how I would begin to explain my cyborg roommate to a date."

"You say weirded out, I say intrigued." Dragging his feet into the kitchen, he smoothly adjusted the source of conversation in his pants. If they'd gotten off to a better start, this talk would have happened a lot sooner. It was just something that all humans were curious about.

"I say some of your screws are loose." Kensi joined him in the kitchen, snatching one of his apples and taking a big bite of it.

"Quit pretending like you're not curious. This isn't my first rodeo, you know." Deeks filled two cups with ice and coffee, leaving one on the counter. He could sense a mixture of discomfort and relief from her, an odd combination but one that made sense to him. "At least you didn't ask to see it right off the bat. That has happened before."

Kensi's eyes widened, and Deeks smiled. Her eyes were awesome. "That seems rather rude."

"A little ruder than asking if I needed to be plugged in, I suppose."

She sighed and grabbed her coffee. "Fine. You win. Tell me about your secret weapon."

"My secret weapon is my mind."

"Argh," Kensi growled. It was like she was constantly forgetting that he could practically read her mind. She wanted to ask so many questions, just like usual, but apparently thought penis talk was taboo. Her horrified reaction to getting handsy with him in her sleep was just too overdramatic to be real and he knew it. "Okay. What does it look like?"

That was a dumb question. "It looks like a dick."

"I can't believe we are having this conversation..." She shook her head.

"I can't believe you're treating this like it's a big deal." Truthfully, Deeks would rather her ask questions about his simulated manhood than the deeply personal interrogations she'd been giving him lately. Facts were easier than attempting to relive and/or repress feelings with a different human. "I mean, not that it's not a big deal. But it looks normal. And yes, it can get hard. Er. Harder. But not the way you're used to. There is a button, like the ones they have for penile transplant patients."

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

He shrugged. "You never know when you might need to perform, I guess."

"Oh my God," she snorted. "Is it like an on/off switch?"

"Basically."

"So you're not a virgin?" Kensi asked, raising an eyebrow.

His human was so strange. "Can cyborgs even be virgins? You're asking if Companions can have sex, and the answer is yes. We don't have the natural desires or the happy endings, but yes."

"I need something stronger than coffee," she muttered into her cup. "So what's the point then? Not to minimize your importance in this world or how much fun fucking is, but sex in its most basic form is for procreation."

It definitely had uses other than procreation. "I think I've said before that the idea was for Companions to blend in. Sex is a huge part of society and can be used as a tool, no pun intended, for gathering information necessary for work. Not so much for what you do, but definitely when I worked with the CIA."

She nodded in understanding. "I can see that in the spy game."

"See? I knew you were capable of having an adult conversation." Deeks rummaged through the kitchen. He didn't want fruit for breakfast, or eggs, or anything healthy for once. He actually wanted a donut, and quietly cursed Kensi's negative influence on his eating habits.

"Okay but if you don't, erm, finish, how do you know when to stop?" She crunched on her apple.

Deeks grunted, giving up on the donut and peeling a banana instead. "Um. When the other person is ready. There's no time limit. You just know."

Kensi cocked her head. "Sorry, but I think that might be a greater weapon than your mind. You're kinda like a sex machine. You can just keep going and going and going..."

"Somehow, I knew that was coming." He almost said no pun intended again, but left it alone. It was time to start getting ready to go to work and figure out what this bad feeling he had was going to turn out to be.

"Also impressive."

"Not really." Looking through his shirts, Deeks held up a blue v-neck and a green button down. "What's impressive are cock pushups."

"Go with the blue." Kensi tried to toss the remainder of her apple in the trash can and missed wide right. "And did you just say cock pushups?"

Pulling his pajama shirt off, he dropped the v-neck and slipped his arms through the sleeves of the button down. "Green it is."


The ride to the Mission was smooth, as were the morning greetings and jokes. Callen was cool as usual, and Sam was quiet and respectful this time. Deeks didn't dislike the man, who carried himself with an air of confidence that he actually found admirable, though their last encounter may have suggested otherwise. It was just obvious that Sam didn't like anything out of the norm, and Deeks was anything but normal.

"Deeks."

When he turned around, he was met with the big doe eyes of one Miss Nell Jones. Those eyes were full of concern. "What's up Nay Nay?"

"Don't you Nay Nay me," she said, fiercely poking his chest. "How many times did you get shot?"

"Seven," he answered nonchalantly, even though it knew it was a big deal. He was still sore from it.

"And you didn't go get checked out afterwards."

Deeks furrowed his brow. "We're bulletproof, Nell. I've been shot enough times, and every time I've gone back to GenMark for post-traumatic incident checkups. I know how it goes. I'm fine, and Kensi needed to go to the ER. It wasn't a priority. She was the priority."

Nell shook her head. "Just because you have a death wish-"

"I don't have a death wish," he growled quietly.

"Doesn't mean you should neglect your own needs while you're still here," she continued in a hushed tone. "There are things you could have done to make yourself more comfortable. I know you're still hurting, and that can effect your ability to protect her."

Casting a glance over at Kensi, Deeks sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? So instead of berating me, why don't you use that computer you call a brain and help me actually track this fucker down?"

She tsked and clicked her tongue in response. "Actually, Hetty and I want to talk to you about that this morning while Kensi goes to get you guys a car."

There was that bad feeling again. Hetty wanted them to travel in a car instead of bikes, he realized, and that was fine. For once, she was being proactive about the safety of her employees. But he didn't understand why Kensi had to go without him.

"She won't be alone. Sam and Callen will go with her," Nell answered his thoughts. Whereas he relied on intuition and sense to know what most people or other Companions were thinking, Nell just straight up knew everything about everyone. Some people found that annoying about her, but it wasn't really her fault.

Deeks could feel Hetty's gaze on all of them from her corner desk, where she apparently sat and stared like it was part of her NCCS designated roles and responsibilities. "Your boss doesn't think she's safe with me?"

"Quite the opposite, and you've got the dents to prove it." She placed her hands on her hips. "But you are basically a moving target right now, and keeping you out of the public eye seems like the smartest thing for all parties involved, don't you think?"

It was hard to disagree with the logic, but impossible to fight his gut. Deeks clenched his jaw and turned his attention from Hetty to Kensi, then back to Nell. "You're starting to sound like your human, Nell."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She offered him a tense smile. "You just referred to The Chameleon as 'this fucker', Deeks. You're starting to sound like yours, too."


"So it was absolutely necessary for both of you to tag along for protection detail?"

Sam and Callen answered in unison, "Yes."

Kensi shook her head from the cramped backseat of Sam's old, beat-up Dodge Challenger. The beast had seen better days but thanks to Sam's upkeep, the engine still purred like a lion. "And you're taking advantage of this time to give me the third degree on my new partner and this case, correct?"

The senior partners shared a look and answered together again. "Yes."

"Alright, fire away."

"What happened when Deeks got shot?" Callen asked right off the bat. "Was there like a forcefield, or did the bullets fear that awful hair and just drop to the ground?"

"Ha ha," she faked laughter. It was hard for her to remember exactly what happened when they were shot, but she'd try. It also made her feel a little better knowing that guys like Sam and Callen would be so curious about a Companion's abilities as well. "It's kinda hard to explain, but the bullets hit him. Literally hit him but didn't penetrate. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me as it happened, but I was fine. Well, except all of these cuts and shit, but that's better than a bullet."

"What happened to Dr. Cranston was awful," Sam chimed in quietly. "Yeah, she was a pain in our asses sometimes, but she was good people. Deserved better."

Kensi frowned. "It could happen to any of us at any time, Sam."

"Yeah, well, shit sure hit the fan when RoboDeeks popped onto the scene," Sam grumbled. "I'm glad that he has been competent enough to keep you alive so far, but if they knew this assignment was going to be this dangerous-"

"What? It should have been given to someone else?" Kensi asked, her voice full of hostility. Dr. Cranston's words about strength played in her head again. "Maybe I was chosen because I'm as tough as fucking nails. Or smarter than the two of you."

Callen shrugged. "No argument there."

Sam side-eyed his partner. "Speak for yourself. And I'm sorry. Yes, you are tough. And smart. And we love you and don't want anything to happen to you, alright?"

"I'm fine." I have Deeks now, she thought, realizing that she already had as much trust in him after one week as she had in Sam and Callen after years of working together. "Besides, you two would not have been able to live with Deeks. He is super neat and wants to eat all of this healthy shit all the time."

"Sounds like he and Sam are a match made in heaven," Callen joked.

Sam cruised into a parking spot at the LA county federal motor pool and curled his lips. "Sounds like you're riding back with Kensi, G."

"That was the plan."

"And she's taking your ass home tonight, too."

Kensi thumped the back of Callen's seat. "You guys are so married. It's adorable. Now quit your bickering and let me out."


The tiny sedan assigned to her was okay, she guessed. Nothing to brag about really, unlike the exotic cars hidden in the garage under the Mission. The government didn't just throw money around like they used to, though.

"Does he pee and poop?" Callen continued his questioning, sans Sam, in her new NCCS car.

"Yes and yes."

"Pick his nose?"

"Hmm. Not that I've seen, actually. He does have rather big nostrils, maybe he doesn't have to."

Callen smacked on his gum. "What about masturbate?"

"Dude!" Kensi made a disgusted face.

"All guys do it."

"Well, cyborgs don't do that." Thank God, she thought. Walking in on that would be even more awkward than walking in on the mysterious cock pushups Deeks had referred to that morning. Okay, no, that wouldn't be awkward. It would be, as he said, impressive.

Callen's demeanor turned more serious. "Do you trust him?"

She nodded slowly. "I didn't at first, because hello, robot. But as I started to understand his purpose and capabilities, it opened my eyes. It's kinda scary, but I think I trust him with just about anything now."

"Okay," he nodded. "Sam doesn't like change, we all know that. But I trust your judgment, Kens. I have your back, and therefore Deeks' back too. We'll catch this Chameleon guy, as a team."

"We will." Kensi smiled at her team leader. "Motivational speeches aren't your style. That must have been hard for you."

"Terrifying," he agreed with a smirk.

Deeks was waiting for them outside the Mission when they returned. Kensi parked beside Sam's Challenger and hopped out to ask about his impromptu meeting with Hetty. "Good news or bad news?"

He shrugged. "No news. We do have a lead on a possible location for The Chameleon, though. Wanna go check it out?"

A lead? That was old school talk if she'd ever heard it. "Sure, I guess."

Deeks nodded to the car. "Give us a chance to test out your new wheels, at least. Mind if I drive?"

Callen narrowed his eyes for a second before tapping the hood of the car. "Well, I guess my protective detail is over for now. Check in if you find anything? Or better yet, how about we follow you guys?"

"Yeah, go get Sam," Kensi said, tossing Deeks the keys. "We'll wait for you."

Nodding, Callen hauled open the heavy wooden doors in search for his partner. Kensi turned her attention to Deeks, who seemed either distracted or pissed. "What did Hetty say to you? Are you fired already?"

"Just some more information about Granger and The Chameleon." He brought his eyes up to hers and smiled.

Kensi tilted her head, searching his eyes like she'd become accustomed to doing. Something was off about them. The blue was too light, almost aquamarine colored. They didn't usually look that way in the sunlight. A cold chill ran up her spine and she instinctively reached for her weapon, even though she knew it would do no good for her.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Yeah. You got his eyes wrong." Swallowing deeply, she forced a brave smile across her lips before his fist connected with her jaw.