A/n: Here's another chapter, though I have a small background in auto mechanics, my dad used to be one, I got most of my info online because it was soo long ago, so forgive me for any technical mistakes in the first part of this chapter, I'm not really one of those peoples who are into cars like that , the second part of this contains spoilers for ep. 18 "blood brothers", enjoy.
-Pessi . Rom
Thanks to : Michalice W,SofiaCullen22,LostForeverInHisEyes,Hope06,fanatic218 and lagentillefan
for reviewing the previous chapter,I appreciate it and hope y'all enjoy the new chapter.
Also thanks to those that have added me or this story to a favorite, or alerts list, I appreciate your interest as well.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything , but I wouldn't mine owning Nate, do you think Shane Brennan would let me have him?
Chapter Nine: Cars and Flirtations
Saturday 11:00 am Apartment of Kensi Blye
Nate stood outside Kensi's apartment. He knocked on the door, and a few minutes later Kensi appeared. She was dressed in a dark blue wife-beater, and sweats, she had her hair tied back in a ponytail.
'' Hey.'' Nate said, noting how she still took his breath away even dressed in sweats.
'' Hey.'' Kensi said taking in Nate's appearance, he was dressed in a worn looking t-shirt and basketball shorts.
'' I wasn't sure what to wear, so I wore what I'd wear to the gym.'' Nate said noticing her checking out his appearance.
'' Don't worry, what you're wearing is fine.'' Kensi said giving him a reassuring smile.
''Good. '' Nate said smiling back at her.
'' Let me just grab my keys and tools, and we'll head to my car.'' Kensi said, motioning for him to come in and have a seat while she gathered the stuff they would need.
Nate noticed the stuffed dog he'd won her at the fair sitting on the couch. He smiled when he thought back to their date. He was shaken out of his thoughts when Kensi reappeared with a small tool box and two dishtowel rags. Nate followed her out of the apartment and after locking the door, they exited the building and walked over to where her car was.
Kensi placed the items she was carrying on the floor then unlocked the car, reaching down by the seat for the latch that would pop the trunk door open. She then went to the trunk, and with Nate's help pulled out two bottles of oil, a gallon of water and a quart of antifreeze.
''First we'll check the water and antifreeze levels, then change the oil. After that we'll check to see if anything else needs adjusting or replacement under the hood.'' Kensi said.
'' Sounds like a plan..'' Nate said, ready to jump in.
"See that arrow right, there, if the liquid is below that level than it needs replenishing. Never open the top of this while the water is running, you might get scolded by the heated water. Happened to a friend of my dads, water splashed on his face and chest." Kensi said as she took the top off the water tank, and motioned for Nate to hand her the gallon of water.
"Ouch, I'll definitely remember that." Nate said.
" Now we'll check the oil level." Kensi said showing Nate which one the oil tank was and unscrewing the top.
"I think I know how to do that...the checking the oil part." Nate added when Kensi gave him a look.
"Go ahead." Kensi said, motioning for him to lead the way.
Nate found the oil dipstick and grabbed one of the dish towel rags, wiping the stick clean. He then dipped it into the oil tank, slid it out to read where the oil level was at.
"It's a little below full, so we should probably add some oil." Nate said.
"I thought you said, you didn't know much about cars." Kensi said surprised that Nate knew how to check the oil.
" I don't, checking oil was the only thing, and it was one of my uncles that sorta taught me. He was teaching his oldest son, my cousin Andrew, and I happened to be visiting, so I was able to learn too." Nate explained.
"That's cool." Kensi said.
"Yeah, I didn't see it at the time, but that knowledge comes in handy, course not as much as knowing how to change your oil, but I don't even think my Uncle knew how to do that." Nate said with a smirk.
"Well, the next time I need to change mine, you can come over and I'll show you how." Kensi said.
"Cool. So what's next?" Nate said eager to learn some more and not wanting to seem too excited over the fact that she wanted to tune her car with him in the future.
"Anti-freeze, and then I've got to replace some of the spark plugs. The air and fuel filters will need replacing soon too, but I'll have to make a trip to Auto Zone, before I can do that." Kensi said.
An a hour and a half later
"And we're done." Kensi said closing the hood of her car.
"This was fun." Nate said.
"Yeah, you're a quick learner. I gotta admit, I thought you'd mostly get in the way." Kensi said with a smirk.
"I'm guessing that was meant to be some kind of complement, so I'll ignore that second part." Nate said. Kensi just laughed then smiled at him before speaking.
"Lunch?" Kensi said heading back toward her apartment.
"Yeah." Nate said following after her.
"Didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store, but I've got enough stuff to make sandwiches." Kensi said as they made their way up the stairs that led to her apartment.
"Sounds good." Nate said, walking into her apartment, after she unlocked the door.
Kensi walked over to the fridge and pulled out a loaf of bread, package of sandwich meat,bottle of mayo, then veggies, which included lettuce, tomato's and cucumbers.
"I think this will do. Toasted or un-toasted?" Kensi asked Nate.
"Toasted." Nate said, then laughed.
"What?" Kensi asked after putting some bread in her toaster.
"Nothing...you just sound like a subway employee." Nate said.
"Excuse me?" Kensi said scoffing.
"It's a...joke..." Nate said nervously clearing his throat,when she gave him a look. Suddenly Kensi started to laugh.
"Wow, that was way too easy." Kensi turning back toward the toaster as the bread popped up.
"I'm guessing you weren't really angry." Nate said.
"Good observation Doc." Kensi said half sarcastically and half playfully.
The two then ate their sandwiches, hung out for a bit talking and joking some more for the next couple of hours. Nate then headed home for the night,he had some work to catch up on the next day, and Kensi was going to a game with the guys the next day. So despite enjoying each others company, they both needed their sleep for the next day.
Monday 11:00 am NCIS OSP
The newest case for the OSP team concerned the fatal shooting of a marine officer,Wendell Dobb's, in what looked like gang related violence. Eric had showed them footage of the shooting, which showed two cars with stolen plates rolling up, and the occupants shooting down the officer with AK47's.
''Gang violence in the military is an ongoing problem, and SECNAV is pushing hard to route out any and all offenders ,but I don't see any indication of gang ties in Wendell Dobbs service records. ''Nate said walking into the bull pen with Callen.
''LAPD said there's an escalating war between gangs, lot of jocking for drug turf.'' Sam said.
'' Well, fire power makes a big difference.'' Callen said.
'' Dobbs' was in uniform, so its unlikely a case of mistaken identity. He clearly wasn't a random victim, he was targeted . Question is,why?'' Nate said relying the rest of his observations.
''How do we wanna play it? '' Sam asked.
''I'll go put in a call to Dobbs CO, and his medical officer. '' Nate said, then left.
'' I'll swing by the crime scene, see if i can track down any witnesses who are willing to talk.'' Kensi said, then also leaves.
'' Well, looks like we're gonna pay our respects to the family.'' Callen said, grabbing his coat, Sam nods and grabs his coat as well.
Few Hours Later
Eric was looking something up on the computer, he was able to pull out info on possible suspects in the shooting of the victims dad. Callen had snapped a photograph of the suspect and had turned up some information. Kensi and Nate, who were also in the OP's room. They walked up closer to see what Eric had found.
'' Rashad Hollander,aka slide, dishonorably discharged from the army in 2007, for... '' Eric said.
'' Let me guess, gang activity. " Kensi said.
'' Bingo. Hm, he managed to compile an impressive rap sheet since then. As has Wendell's prodigal little brother, James.'' Eric said pulling up the deceased marine's, brothers, file on the screen, alongside Rashad Hollander's.
'' But James seems like a petty thief , whereas Hollander appears to be well on the way to becoming a full fledged sociopath.'' Nate said looking at the information on the screen..
'' Both Slide(Hollander), and James (little mac D) Dobbs, have links to the 82nd street posse, which have been expanding to rival gangs' territory.'' Eric said.
'' So what does this have to do with our stellar marine, Wendell Dobbs?'' Kensi asked, wondering what this new information told them about their impending case.
''That's the part we haven't figured out yet.'' Nate said turning to face Kensi.
The Next Day
The team stood watching the news about the latest gang shout out,which again involved heavy duty fire. Nate sighs.
''James is the only way to get to the gang that killed his brother '' Sam said, as they all stared at the TV screen.
'' Look, slide Rashad Hollander is extremely dangerous, and after this mornings shoot out he's gonna be even more paranoid and jumpy. Which is gonna make him more prone to violence. '' Nate said clearly not liking the proposed angle to take down their killer.
'' Which is why we have to act now, get those killers and their automatic weapons off the street. '' Sam said.
''Ok, but whose to say Slide wont kill James, the minute he seems him. He's your only witness in any of this.'' Nate argues.
'' Slides already lost three guys, including J.J. , his right hand man. He's in a turf war with the Mexicans and the Colombians, hes gonna take all the help he can get.'' Callen said, bringing in another perspective.
'' Look I know you guys are gonna do it anyway, but I just want it on the record that I think this OP has an unacceptable risk level. They're too many dangerous variables, especially with this short of a setup. That being said, I hope you kick some ass. '' Nate says, Kensi turns and smiles at him.
'' I'll prep James.'' Sam says.
'' I'll get Eric working on the text grid.'' Kensi said, then heads to the second floor.
'' I'll download some more profiles on Slide. Could be something there you could use.'' Nate said wanting to support the team in anyway he could, despite feeling uncomfortable about the risk level.
'' Thanks Nate.'' Callen said.
Later
"Hey, Doc." Kensi said walking into Nate's office.
"Hey." Nate said back, finding that he liked when she called him that.
"Hetty making you debrief with me?" Nate asked.
"No, I just wanted...to see you." Kensi said, a hint of shyness in her voice.
"Oh...really?" Nate said surprised.
"Ok, so maybe she did want me to talk to you, cause of the whole shoot out thing. But I thought we could have dinner, and tomorrow we'll do the whole debriefing thing." Kensi said taking a seat on the couch in his office and giving him flirty look.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan, I'm almost done here." Nate said referring to his paperwork.
"Good, um there's one other thing." Kensi said getting up and closing his office door.
"What's that?" Nate said keeping his eyes on her as he moved from being his desk.
" I'm good with this whole going slow thing,but I think we can start doing this again." Kensi said walking over to him and standing a few inches from him.
"You mean this." Nate said leaning down, bringing his lips closer to hers.
"Yeah, I mean this." Kensi said, then closed the distance.
A/n: Thanks for reading,that thing about the water and getting burned actually happened to my dad and it was pretty bad burns, but he made a full recovery with no scars or anything, also that last part wasn't originally planned for this chapter, but sometimes the chapter writes itself, thanks for reading hope you enjoyed the chapter, as always reviews/suggestions/construct criticism and any ideas you may have, is greatly appreciated I will try to get one more chapter up next week,because after that I'll be settling back into University life lol, so it might be awhile after the next update before I can update again.
-Pessi . Rom