Chapter 10

Well, my birthday came and went and nothing came in the mail that said I owned NCIS:LA or P!ATD…

'Well, this calls for a toast, so pour the champagne…'

'Good morning, Agent, Detective,' Rose said as the two entered the ME's office.

'Actually, he's not a detective anymore, Rose,' Kensi informed her.

Rose looked up at them. 'Then what is he?'

'Why are we talking about me like I'm not even here?' Deeks questioned. 'I'm now Special Agent Marty Deeks,' he announced with a large grin.

'I've been trying to figure out what the "special" bit is, but I just can't,' Kensi told Rose, who grinned widely.

'Well, maybe he'll show us here. I have a cause of death; would you care to demonstrate your special agent skills by guessing?' she asked.

'Well, you said poisoning earlier,' Deeks said. 'So I'm guessing that you have a specific poison?'

'I do.'

'What is it?' Kensi asked.

Rose motioned to the dead Staff Sergeant. 'His mouth smells like bitter almonds.'

'Bitter almonds?' Deeks asked before bending over and carefully sniffing in the vicinity of the man's mouth. Immediately, Rose and Kensi took the chance to check out his very well formed backside. 'Hey!'

Rose and Kensi were very suddenly looking elsewhere.

'It does smell like bitter almonds,' he continued, completely oblivious to the fact that the two women were checking him out.

'Cyanide poisoning?' Kensi asked.

'Cyanide poisoning,' Rose confirmed.

'How did it get into him?' Deeks asked.

'Well, he wasn't a smoker, so I'm assuming that he didn't inhale it, so my other guess would be that he ingested it.'

'What did he eat, then?' Kensi asked.

'For dinner, he ate chicken and corn soup, lamb chops and mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding with copious amounts of champagne,' Rose said. 'And it appears that for breakfast, he had more champagne.'

'I don't blame him,' Deeks said. 'That was, after all, the last breakfast he'd have as a free man.'

The two women didn't comment, just glared at him. Kensi finally said, 'So, which killed him?'

'I believe that it was the breakfast champagne,' Rose said. 'Cyanide can take various amounts of time to kill, depending on the amount received. He got a fair amount.'

'How fast?' Kensi asked.

'I reckon it killed him in about… fifteen minutes?'

'And you called time of death at ten forty-seven,' Deeks recalled. 'Which means that he got the dose around ten thirty.'

'So we've got to find out where the Staff Sergeant got the champagne from,' Kensi said. 'Is there anything else that you've found out?'

Rose shook her head. 'I'm sorry. Have I been unhelpful?'

'No, Rose, you've been very helpful,' Deeks assured her.

'Well, congratulations on your career change, Special Agent Deeks,' Rose said.

'And thanks for your help,' Kensi said.

'No problem,' Rose said. 'See you another time.'

'Uh huh.'

Deeks followed Kensi out of the ME's office and into the sunshine. And that's when he heard it.

'Marty?'

Kensi looked at her partner as he froze and then looked around in wonder. 'Ellie?'

Suddenly, Deeks was hit broadside on by a quick-moving person who wrapped their arms around him. 'Marty!' it squealed.

Deeks pulled it away slightly so that he could see it, and a broad grin spread across his face as he took in the long, wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. 'Ellie! What are you doing here?'

'Well, I thought I'd surprise you! And I have a huge surprise for you. But it seems that you have an even bigger surprise for me.' Ellie took a step away from him and folded her arms before looking at Kensi and then back at him. Before doing a double take. 'Um… Marty?'

Deeks looked from Ellie to Kensi and back to Ellie before shaking himself out of his daze. 'Sorry. Um, Kens, this is Ellie, my sister. Ellie, this is my partner, Special Agent Kensi Blye.'

'Pleasure to meet you,' Ellie said. 'I've heard a lot about you.'

'Wish I could say the same,' Kensi replied. She could hear a touch of an Australian accent in her voice. 'Your brother talks a lot, but never about anything important.'

'So he hasn't changed?' Ellie asked, poking her brother in the chest.

'As long as I've known him? No.'

Deeks coughed loudly. 'Um, can we stop talking about me like I'm not here?'

Ellie laughed. 'Sure.'

'Great. Hey, I didn't catch why you're here earlier…' Deeks said slowly.

'That's because I didn't say,' Ellie said teasingly. 'It's the most amazing news, Marty. Robert just got a new job opportunity, and it's right here in LA! I'm coming home!' She was almost squealing in excitement.

Deeks' eyes widened almost comically. 'Oh, my God… You're coming home?' He swept her into another hug. 'I need you meet your fiancé and hug him! He's bringing you home!' He suddenly let go of her. 'Where is said fiancé?'

'Oh, he's checking in with his new boss,' Ellie said, carelessly waving one hand. 'Which left me to surprise my brother at the LAPD… where he apparently no longer works. You wanna explain that, big brother?'

'It's been an hour, tops, and you've already forgotten,' Kensi teased at the sight of her partner's perplexed face.

Deeks blinked at her, and then a smile broke out on her face. 'Oh, right. I'm not a cop anymore,' he informed her. He pulled out his badge and pressed it into her hands. 'I'm a Federal Agent.'

Ellie's eyes widened as she inspected the badge, before asking, 'What's NCIS?'

Kensi and Deeks exchanged a smile, before Kensi gestured with her hands. 'Go ahead. Your first time may as well be with your sister.'

He grinned at her, and looked exactly like a small child at Christmas. 'Naval Criminal Investigative Service.' He made an excited wriggle. 'Ooh, I'll never get sick of that.'

'You were never in the Navy,' Ellie said, frowning. 'Were you?'

'The brilliance of NCIS is that you don't have to be part of the Navy to be part of it. Like, I've always been just an NCIS agent. I've never been part of the Navy or anything,' Kensi informed her.

'And there are heaps of ex-cops too, right?' Deeks asked.

'Yeah,' Kensi agreed.

Ellie smiled a small smile. 'You guys don't have to convince me of NCIS's brilliance. Anything that Marty wants is more than good enough for him.'

Deeks sent his partner a sideways look beneath his lashes. 'Uh huh…'

'Anyway, I was wondering if you'd be able to join me for lunch,' Ellie said brightly, giving her brother a hopeful smile. 'Both of you,' she added, sending Kensi the smile as well.

Deeks winced slightly. 'Lunch isn't a likely prospect,' he said slowly.

'Dinner, then. You can't work at night,' Ellie said immediately. 'I really want you to meet Rob.'

Deeks sighed and exchanged a look with Kensi. 'I… uh… Kens?'

Kensi smiled at him. 'Did you seriously ask me for permission?'

'No,' Deeks replied slowly. 'I'm just seeing if we had to work tonight,' he continued.

Kensi shrugged. 'I have no clue. I remember once we started the day doing paperwork and ended up getting blown up.'

'Which day?' Deeks asked dryly.

Kensi grinned. 'I'm just saying, you can't really be sure of anything when setting a date with this job.'

'Well, how about we say seven and we won't grudge you if you turn up at ten?' Ellie proposed.

Deeks looked at Kensi and shrugged. 'Okay, then. But, um, we better get going, El. We've got federal agent stuff to do.'

'A murder to solve,' Kensi added.

'But we will see you tonight. Promise.' Deeks smiled at her.

'Don't give me your charm smile,' Ellie said. 'I taught that to you.'

'And here I was thinking that he'd learnt it from Monty,' Kensi said, shaking her head.

Ellie grinned at her before turning to her brother and giving him a hug. 'I'll text you the details, 'kay?'

''kay,' Deeks replied, squeezing her tightly back. 'I wanna meet this "Rob".'

'You,' Ellie said slowly, poking him in the chest, 'Be nice.'

'Oh, don't worry,' Kensi said, a glint in her eye. 'I'll make sure he plays nice.'

Deeks gulped. 'You can believe that.'

'How much should I believe it?' Ellie asked.

Densi exchanged a look before Deeks rolled up the sleeve of his plaid shirt. 'See that?' It was an approximately fist sized purpling bruise.

'How'd that happen?' Ellie asked.

'It was me, trying to get him to play nice,' Kensi said dryly.

'It works, most of the time,' Deeks said brightly. 'I'm starting to grow immune to the pain.'

'Maybe I should start whacking you elsewhere,' Kensi threatened.

Ellie laughed before shaking Kensi's hand. 'That's my job. At least, until you marry him.'

Deeks' eyes widened, and Kensi's jaw dropped as Ellie started to walk away.

'No!' Deeks called after her. 'We're not…' He sighed as she waved, out of earshot. 'Together,' he finished lamely.

Kensi laughed softly and patted her partner on the shoulder before waving the file that she was holding in front of his face. 'Come on. We've got to get this back to Callen and Sam.'

Deeks sighed. 'I wish that girl would call. Honestly, she never calls, no matter what country she's in.'

'Deeks, the way I see it, this day is getting better and better for you.'

Deeks grinned at his partner. 'You know what? You're right.'

'Aren't I always?'

…

Deeks is having a good day, isn't he? Purple plot hippo must be feeling good today – I don't think this will last, though. When does it ever?

Review, please.

XD PurpleHipposRock