Title: Season Six Snippets

Chapter: Detective Talk

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS LA or any of the characters.

Summary: This snippet begins before the last scene in the mission between Callen, Sam, Hetty, Eric and Nell in episode 6x21 Beacon, and then continues after the episode.

Rating: T

Detective Talk

"Come by my place around seven?" Kensi invites lightly as they pack up for the day. She's hoping to cheer her guy up a little bit.

"Should I bring the Monster?" Deeks asks referring to Monty.

Kensi glances around to make sure their coworkers are a fair distance away then replies with a flirty smile, "That depends, are you going to talk detective tonight?"

"Oh yeah, all night long baby," he whispers with a little chuckle.

"Definitely bring the Monster," she urges echoing the use of the newest nickname for their four-legged friend. She is encouraged that Deeks is back to bantering and his spirits seem to be somewhat lifted already.

Kensi's apartment is at the end of her building and her entrance is on the side, which means Deeks can see the grassy area behind the building as he knocks on the door and waits for her to answer. He notices one of the wrought iron tables in the grassy area behind the apartment is set with silverware, glasses, and a candle. It has Kensi's soft, romantic side written all over it and he's intrigued to see what surprises await beyond her door.

When she opens the door, he leans in for a chaste kiss hello as Monty trots past them to sniff around and check out his home away from home.

"Smells delicious in here," Deeks comments as he follows her to her small kitchen.

"Thanks, hopefully it will taste that way too." She says it with a bit of apprehension because she knows she's not a great cook.

"Did you make that?" he asks as she pulls a meatloaf out of the oven. He can't quite keep the disbelief out of his voice.

"No," she admits as she begins slicing it onto their plates. "Mom sent it home with me the last time I had dinner over there. I made the Mac and Cheese and the carrots though," she adds with a touch of pride.

They carry their plates of comfort food outside along with a pitcher of lemonade. Of course Kensi has ice cream for later too. Monty settles under the table as they begin to eat.

After they eat in silence for a minute or two, Kensi quietly brings up the elephant in the room. She had wanted to keep the night light and easy, but now that he's here she knows she didn't say everything she wanted to in the car. "I'm here Deeks. You don't have to take this on alone. Please let me know what's going on. I'm your partner and I need to have your back. I need to help."

Deeks thinks for a minute, and wonders where her sudden ability to talk about things has come from, before replying, "You are helping. Knowing you have my back helps. The fact that you made me dinner and made the noodles the way I like them helps." He is referring to the fact that they like their Mac and Cheese noodles different textures. He likes his almost crunchy, and she likes hers like mush because her dad always overcooked the noodles when he made her lunch or dinner when her mom wasn't around.

He knows from her look that what he's given her is not enough.

"I need to know how bad. This affects me too."

He rubs his hands over his face and sighs.

"I don't want you to worry." He reaches over for her hand as he tries to evade her questions.

"I'm worried because you're worried." She's rarely seen him this out of sorts and it scares her a little.

"I don't know Kens. I keep racking my brain to think of what this could be about. It has to be something from before we met, which is why I don't want to say too much. They can't drag you into this if you don't know anything."

"How bad?" she repeats needing to know what they're up against.

"Maybe bad enough to lose my job, nothing as serious as jail," he assures rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

Even the thought of losing him as a partner makes tears sting the corners of her eyes. She blinks rapidly a few times to keep the tears at bay. "If the time comes, you'll tell me. You'll let me in." It's a quiet demand, but a demand all the same.

"I will," he assures, then picks up his fork to continue eating.

As she washes dishes Kensi's thoughts keep returning to the fact that Deeks is worried. She knows he's holding things back from her and she accepts his reason why, but over the past few weeks, every once in awhile, a nagging bit of doubt creeps in. Each time it does, and again now, she quickly remembers that this is Deeks. Besides Sam, he's the most moral person she knows. He volunteers at the soup kitchen and always takes into consideration the feelings of kids when they are present during a case. He genuinely cares about people and wants to help anyone he can. The job isn't just what he does, it's who he is. The Deeks she knows couldn't possibly have done anything corrupt or anything deeming IA investigation, yet he's worried and that worries her.

Deeks has noticed there has been a little bit of tension between them, at least in certain moments, since this IA investigation began. He has a feeling their second fight is going to be over this, and it will probably be a great degree more significant than their first fight. What scares him more than the threat of losing his job is the threat of losing her.

He wraps his arms around her from behind after bringing in the last dish from outside.

He kisses the back of her head and asks, "We good?"

"We're good," she assures him as she leans into his embrace. She instantly feels more secure about everything with his arms around her. "Sorry, I invited you over to cheer you up and I kind of brought the whole evening down. I just…"

"You want to know what's going on, and you have every right to," he finishes her thought. "What I'm asking isn't fair," he acknowledges as he takes the dishtowel from her hands, sets it on the counter, and turns her to face him.

"I get it. I'm here though for whatever you need," she reminds him. She brings her hand to his cheek to guide his lips down to meet hers.

"Are you here if I need to talk search and seizure law?" he questions with a mischievous smile.

"Um hum," she agrees as she had that morning. She brings her hands to his chest as they kiss again.

"We can talk fingerprints," he continues, dancing his finger tips up her spine as he starts to walk her backward toward the living room.

"We can talk circumstantial evidence," Kensi tries. She holds onto his arms as he guides her through her bedroom door.

"There you go," Deeks encourages, looking into her eyes. Seeing the love and trust that are reflected in them make him believe, at least in this moment, that everything is going to be okay.

Thank you for reading. Reviews are always welcome. I am going to try and keep working on the episodes that I didn't do snippets for over the summer.