Chapter 9 – Deeks

Kensi came down half an hour later with wet hair drying in loose curls curving around her face wearing a long loose skirt and a sort of ruffle-y shirt.

'Watch that spot,' I said from my spot next to the frying pan, nodding to the floor where she'd spilled coffee. It was wet, and I didn't want her slipping over on wet tiles.

'Thanks,' she said softly, taking the glass of orange juice that I gave her. 'Sorry about spilling it. Callen startled me.'

'He's been working too long with Hetty. He's started picking up her tricks,' I joked. She laughed, and I checked the frying pan. 'Ha. It's done.'

'What's done?' she asked curiously.

'French toast.'

'I swear, you missed your calling, Deeks.' She grinned at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. It was infectious.

'What do you mean?'

'You should've been a chef.'

'I like being a cop.'

'You had to decide that you didn't like being a lawyer, first,' she replied, drizzling honey all over her toast.

'I'm a jack of all trades,' I replied, sitting opposite her and stealing the honey.

'And a master of all of them?' she teased back.

'It's nice that you think so,' I replied, smirking at her.

'Well, I know that you're a good cop.'

'You think that?' I asked, surprised. I hadn't really thought that Kensi thought that I was a good cop.

'Yeah. You're really good at your job. You'd make an even better agent.'

I tried to give her a carefree smile, but it didn't quite come off the way I wanted it to. 'I'm just taking life as it comes. I don't quite see myself becoming an agent just now, you know, I've still got so much to do as a cop…'

She shrugged it off. 'Well, whenever you do decide that you want to take that step…' She gave me a mischievous smile. 'I'll be there to train you.'

'Isn't that what you're already doing with all of these courses?' I complained.

She laughed at me. 'What you're going through now is a cakewalk compared to what becoming an agent is like.'

I squinted at her. 'You had to watch an autopsy, didn't you?'

'Yeah. All NCIS recruits have to.'

'You puked, didn't you?'

She sighed. 'I was twenty-one and it was the first time I'd seen a dead body… a fresh one, I mean.'

I decided to ignore what that last part alluded to, and make a joke instead. The atmosphere was becoming a little bit too morose for my liking. 'It was all bloody and gross, wasn't it?'

'Hey. I'm eating,' she pointed out, and took a bite of her breakfast. 'That's disgusting.'

'Well, you did puke.'

'You didn't?'

'No. I disgraced myself in a less gross way.'

'You passed out, didn't you?' She was grinning. She was mocking me.

'You're mocking me,' I said, pouting.

'You did pass out.'

I shuddered. 'There were needles.'

She smiled. 'It's natural to be scared, Deeks.'

I looked at her carefully. 'What are you scared of, Miss Blye?'

'That's for me to know and you to hopefully never find out, Marty.'

I laughed. To think that Kensi was scared of anything really was laughable.

'Don't laugh,' she scolded, reaching over the table to punch me hard in the shoulder.

'Ow,' I whined.

'And don't whine,' she continued, glaring at me.

'Your secret is safe with me,' I said to her, smiling at her frown of confusion.

'Wh- what secret?' she asked, squinting suspiciously at me.

'The fact that you actually are scared of something,' I replied. 'You're not so much a big bad Blye.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Nice alliteration. And no, I'm human. It's human to be… scared.'

'I know. I've been scared more times than I care to remember.'

'Not because of me, I hope,' she said softly.

I remembered the many, many times she'd caused my heart to skip a beat because I thought I was about to witness her do herself an injury. 'Yes,' I said honestly, remembering the laser beams in the Stadium, the car hitting her on her way to the canal, being held hostage by Stan King, the entire situation with Kensi and her father's murderer.

Her mouth dropped open a little bit, and she said, very eloquently, 'Oh.'

'You done?' I asked, a little bit brusquely, I have to admit, but I didn't want to linger on the point.

'Done?' she asked, bemused.

'Breakfast?' I motioned to her empty plate.

'Oh. Yeah, I guess.'

I took her plate and mine and washed them, suddenly surprised when Kensi appeared next to me, towel in hand, and silently wiped them dry.

'It's weird,' she suddenly said, and I jumped.

'What's weird?' I asked.

'Us. This,' she clarified. 'It's almost as if we've been doing this forever.'

'Maybe we have been.'

'Don't tell me you believe in other lives,' she said with a soft, amused smile.

'Well, you gotta believe in something.'

'What were you, then?' she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.

I shrugged. 'I'm pretty sure I was female.'

She immediately cracked up into laughter.

'What?' I asked.

'I can't believe that you said that.'

'If I didn't say it, you would've,' I replied. 'You – I think that you were a… queen.'

'A queen?' she replied, squinting strangely at me.

'Beautiful, regal, strong, courageous. I could just imagine you riding into battle on a white horse, covered in shiny armour and wielding a silver sword.'

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and I suddenly realised that she was blushing. I had made her blush.

'Thanks, Deeks,' she said softly.

'I, um…'

Suddenly, a loud rap on the door interrupted us.

She sighed and gave me a look. 'More vultures.' She grinned before leaving me. 'You wanna get dressed, honey?'

I looked down at myself and realised that I was only wearing my pyjama pants. 'Oh.' I sprinted upstairs, thankful that Kensi had waited until I was in the bedroom until she opened the door. I threw on the first clean jeans that I saw, struggling into the smaller size that Hetty had inflicted on me before grabbing a grey t-shirt and pulling it over my head, knowing that my hair would just do its own thing and there was no point in trying to fix it.

I opened the bedroom door just in time to hear Kensi say, 'My husband should be down shortly.'

A decidedly feminine voice answered, 'Oh, this picture is just adorable. How long have you been married?'

I jogged down the stairs and joined Kensi in the living room, where she was just sitting down with a woman, a man and a teenage girl.

'Just a couple of weeks, actually,' Kensi said as I perched on the arm of her chair. 'This is my husband, Marty.'

I reached down and squeezed her hand. 'Hi.'

'Oh, well, I'm Hannah, and this is Will and our daughter-'

'Lily. I'm Lily. I can introduce myself, Mom. I'm seventeen.'

'It's really nice to meet you, Lily,' I said, offering my hand to her.

She grinned at me, a sparkle in her eye as she took my hand and firmly shook it. 'You too.'

Will shook my hand next. 'David tells me you surf.'

'When I can,' I replied, surprised that the men had already talked. Then I remembered that they surfed together of a morning.

'These men and their surfing,' Hannah said to Kensi.

'I honestly don't see the attraction,' Kensi replied, smiling. 'I'd prefer to be snug and fast asleep in my nice warm bed.'

'I very much agree,' Hannah replied.

'What about you, Lily?' I asked the teenager.

'I love the beach. But I prefer swimming to surfing. I'm a bit clumsy on my feet.'

'Well, I'll race you next time I see you on the beach.'

'You've got yourself a race, Mr Johnson.'

'Marty,' I said immediately.

'Cool,' she said, tossing long blonde sun-lightened hair over her shoulder.

'And I guess I'll see you out there on the waves,' Will said, grinning at me.

'Definitely,' I replied.

'Would you like something to drink?' Kensi offered. 'Coffee? Tea? Juice?'

'No thank you,' Hannah said after a silent conference with her family. 'We'd actually better go. Lily has an appointment in a couple of hours, and we want her to get some rest before she goes.'

'Well, it was nice meeting you,' Kensi said, rising.

'And you,' Hannah replied, taking Kensi's hand, and then mine.

'I'll see you out on the beach,' I said to Will and Lily, who grinned mischievously.

They were gone very quickly, and I collapsed down on the couch with a sigh.

'I feel like that too,' Kensi said, flopping down next to me. 'Do you think Hetty picked this couch on the grounds that she could see us doing this?'

'Probably. How about you ask her when she comes to visit this afternoon. My 'Aunt' Hetty.'

'You call her that and she'll probably castrate you with her letter opener,' Kensi said to me.

'Prob'ly,' I admitted.

Kensi yawned widely.

'Tired?' I asked.

'No,' she said immediately.

I just looked at her.

'Little bit,' she finally admitted.

'Go take a nap,' I said, nodding to the bedroom. 'It's my fault you're tired. I'll keep an eye on the Paulsons.'

'You sure?' she asked hesitantly.

'Absolutely. I'll wake you up when Hetty gets here.'

'I guess I could do with some more sleep.'

'Go on,' I said softly.

'Okay.' Yawning, she made her way upstairs, and the bedroom door clicked closed.

I stretched out on the sofa, pulled my phone out of my pocket, and started playing "Angry Birds".

I sat alone in the afternoon sunlight on the steps on the front porch of "our" house, bare feet on the hot stone, mug of coffee on the step beside me. Absently, I picked it up and took a sip before putting it down, savouring the warm sunshine on my face.

I heard the front door click open and then shut, and then open and shut again, before a warm body settled itself beside me, and Kensi rested her head on my shoulder.

'Hey,' she said softly, and I noted that she'd changed into a soft yellow knee length sundress. She reached over me and picked up my coffee cup, taking a sip. She wrinkled her nose and handed it back. 'You don't put enough sugar in your coffee.'

'I don't put any sugar in my coffee.'

'Exactly.' She returned to her original position, her head on my shoulder.

'You checked the door,' I teased gently.

'I was just making sure that it didn't lock behind me.'

'It didn't,' I said.

'I brought a key with me anyway,' she admitted.

'There's one underneath the mat,' I whispered, winking at her.

She laughed.

'Good sleep?' I asked.

'Very.' She turned her head slightly so that she could examine my face. 'You look exhausted. There are circles beneath your eyes.'

I shook my head. 'Wouldn't be able to sleep.'

'The dream?' she asked softly.

I remembered the flashes, the terror that I'd felt, and a shiver ran down my spine. Her hand found mine, and I knew that in her close proximity she'd felt it. 'The dream,' I agreed.

'If you need anything,' she said softly, hesitantly.

'I'll be alright,' I replied, squeezing her hand.

Across the street, David started to tend to his lawnmower, and seeing us, waved. We waved back, and he went back to what he was doing with a smile.

'This is nice,' I said softly. 'You know, the whole suburbia thing?'

'It's a lot better than I thought it would be,' she replied, sighing. 'I thought it would be a whole lot more…'

'"Desperate Housewives"?' I suggested dryly.

'Maybe.'

Suddenly, we could hear the throaty purr of a Jaguar coming closer.

'Here comes trouble,' I said softly, grinning.

Kensi laughed. 'Don't let Hetty hear you say that.'

The car pulled up in the driveway, and I could see David straightening up to admire it appreciatively.

'Well,' Hetty said, getting out of the car. 'This is a lovely sight.'

'Hey, Hetty,' Kensi said softly. 'How's it going?'

'Very well, my dear.' She paused on the path and looked around, giving a soft sigh. 'It's a lovely day today, isn't it?'

'Yes,' I agreed.

She looked up at the security camera and smiled. 'I hear you're fond of taking midnight strolls, Mr Deeks.'

'More like three a m strolls,' Kensi muttered.

'I too believe in the positive qualities of a quiet stroll,' Hetty said to me. 'Very good for clearing the head.'

So she was aware of my troubled night. Hey, this was Hetty. Of course she was.

'Come inside,' Kensi offered, getting up off of the step.

'Yeah,' I agreed, getting up as well.

'Of course,' she said, followed Kensi up the stairs.

I watched as Kensi almost hesitantly checked the door, giving a soft, relieved sigh when it opened easily.

'Tea?' I offered.

'That would be lovely, Marty,' she said easily, but I almost jumped at the sound of my Christian name coming from her, until I realised that calling me 'Mr Deeks' would sound a little bit strange, considering that we'd been telling everyone that our name was Johnson.

When we got to the kitchen, though, we relaxed, and Hetty pulled out her laptop.

'What's been happening?' Kensi asked.

'There has been an uptick in chatter,' Hetty said quickly, typing. 'Everything points to an attack tomorrow night.'

'Oh, no,' I said softly. 'This means that you're going to make us do something.'

'Well, I was thinking that you've been here for a few days – perhaps it's time for a housewarming party?' Hetty suggested.

We both stared at Hetty in dismay.

'What?' Kensi finally managed.

'A housewarming party,' she repeated patiently.

'Why?' I asked.

'Because it will be an excuse to have both the Paulsons and back-up in the same vicinity so that there is a lesser risk that something will go wrong,' Hetty explained.

'So, you're saying we get half the neighbourhood plus a heap of agents here? What if they do strike?' Kensi asked. 'Won't this just turn into a blood bath?'

'Perhaps not,' Hetty said slowly. 'We can just hope that the assailants will either decide to postpone their attack, or that they will go ahead with it and allow us to identify them and therefore neutralise them.'

'So, we're throwing a party that will hopefully save a man's life,' I said cheerfully. 'Fun.'

'So we must get started.' Hetty clapped her hands together before starting for one of the kitchen cabinets. 'But first things first. Tea.'

'I'll stick to coffee, thanks, Hetty,' I said, holding up my empty mug.

'Miss Blye?' Hetty asked, lifting a rather nice teapot out of a lower cupboard.

'Sure. Why not. I have a feeling it won't be the weirdest thing I'll be doing over the next two days,' Kensi sighed.

Hetty laughed softly and started to make tea.

'So what sort of party will it be?' I asked curiously.

'I think that the best option would be a sort of barbeque,' Hetty said, pouring out tea into two delicate teacups and pushing one across the table to Kensi, soon followed by the sugar bowl.

Kensi groaned. 'Hetty, the only worse thing you could choose would be a dinner party. I can't cook.'

'She's not kidding,' I confirmed. 'Her fridge consists of milk, apples and at least four cartons of left-over take out.'

'Which is why Mr Callen, Mr Hanna and Miss Jones will be joining you tomorrow morning.'

'Terrific. Would you ask Callen and Sam to knock and wait for us to answer the door tomorrow, please?' I asked.

'Sorry?' Hetty asked, looking genuinely confused.

'They woke us up this morning by picking the lock and walking into our bedroom, claiming that they thought that we were in trouble,' Kensi said, rolling her eyes. 'They just wanted a reason to poke around.'

'I will warn them about further trespassing,' Hetty said, nodding before swallowing the last of her tea and standing up. 'Well, I must go and arrange everything for tomorrow. I'll see you, say, five?'

'A.m.?' I asked, alarmed.

'No, in the evening, Mr Deeks,' Hetty said calmly.

'Oh,' I said, sighing in relief.

'Miss Jones will be setting up cameras in the kitchen, living room, study, hallway and bedroom.'

'Not bedroom,' Kensi immediately rejected.

I looked at her. 'You're planning something, wife-y dear?'

As expected, she punched me in the shoulder. Then she said, 'I just think that it's plain creepy to think that someone might be watching you while you sleep.'

'I agree,' Hetty said. 'And that is why I shall have Nell take it away at the end of the night.'

'Thank you, Hetty,' Kensi said softly.

'And now I really must leave you,' Hetty said, smiling. Kensi and I stood, and we walked her to the door.

'Have a safe trip, Aunt Hetty,' I said from the front porch, watching her climb into her Jaguar.

She laughed. 'Thank you, Marty. I'll see you two tomorrow.'

And with that, she started the car and drove away.

'Oh, God,' Kensi sighed, sinking down onto one of the chairs on the front porch. 'What are we going to do, Marty?'

'What we always do, Kensi dear.' I sat down opposite her at the tiny wrought iron table that sat on the porch. 'Wing it.'

Uh oh. This has the potential to get messy. And that's without factoring in the fact that they're supposed to be protecting David Paulson at the same time!

What do you think? Anything I've done wrong in this chapter that you'd like to point out? Or is there anything you absolutely loved and would like to commend me on? Let me know by reviewing. I love reviews. And so does plot hippo Barry. He likes them a lot. It makes him make me write. Did that sentence make sense?

You may be wondering as to what's put me into such a fine mood as to have done a triple update (and yes, that is a Pirates of the Caribbean quote – aren't I lame?). Well…

I've had these chapters written for ages, so I figure I better post them.

You guys are so awesome for reviewing that I wanted you to have them.

I'm going on a six day school excursion to the snow (note to self – remember carrot for snowman's nose…) so I won't have access to internet…

So I'll see you in a week! It'd be awesome if we could get up to 80 reviews while I'm gone (hint, hint, cough, cough, wink, wink, nudge, nudge)…

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