Chapter 25

It had been an amazing date up to that point and Deeks was overwhelmed with feelings. They weren't something he was used to dealing with, though if he had been honest with himself, he had felt them building slowly for a while now. So many memories of his and Kensi's days over the last few years were instrumental in getting them to the place they were now. Everyone had seen their Thing, but they continued to deny it until one day it had just taken over, invaded their lives as if they had no choice in the matter. Deeks was glad it had.

He had flirted with Kensi relentlessly. Sometimes he wondered if he had overstepped the boundaries with his words, but they had both taken it as silly nonsense, when really it was all a part of the unspoken dating game.

He had protected Kensi, many times risking his own life to be sure hers was safe and truth be told he would always do that. There was never a moment he would put his life above hers and that alone, should have alerted him to how very much she meant to him. She was his priority.

They had shared so many hours together, at the beach, walking Monty, sharing a beer and dinner, watching movies, that any time he was not in Kensi's company he was lonely. When he was with her again, the loneliness was gone. Again, a clear indicator of how much they meant to each other. Yet still neither one of them truly acknowledged it.

He had put up with her moods and bad days, always wanting to make them better, being the one who knew exactly how to take her mind off what upset her or instinctively giving her space when she needed it. He could read her like a book yet he seemed to be the only one who could do that. A look, a nod of the head, a single spoken word and he knew how to handle the situation. And she did the same for him, always knowing how to react to his emotions, happy and not. They knew each other inside out and yet still they hadn't figured out what was happening between them.

They had essentially been a couple for many years, sharing the life that couples do. It was just now they would be a couple in every sense of the word. Partners at work and partners at home. He wondered if she would consider moving in with him. He didn't want to push the issue and scare her away. It could wait, until one day they realised essentially, they were already living together. He knew it would happen because it already was happening. He could live with that.

They sat quietly on the sand watching out over the bay that Hetty's cruiser was anchored in. Kensi's back was leaning against Deeks' chest, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder, his arms protectively around her. Deeks was always at peace when he was near the ocean and today was no different. It seemed even more peaceful today and looking down beside him, at the one woman in the world he would do anything for, he knew the reason why. The sun seemed to be shining much brighter, the water seemed to sparkle more, and the smile on his face when he looked down at Kensi seemed happier. He moved his arm to pull Kensi closer to him, leaning down to settle a soft kiss on her temple and he was rewarded with a satisfied sigh. No words were spoken. They knew how the other felt, safe and comfortable settled in each other's arms.

He suddenly realised that he hadn't told Kensi his news. He was still to tell her he had become an agent. It needed to be done, and now, but he felt like it was an intrusion on the peace they were experiencing. To bring their high stress, danger filled job into a conversation while they were here seemed wrong. It would shatter the illusion of a free and peaceful existence that this weekend was presenting them with.

"Kens," He murmured close to her ear.

"Hmmm," she sighed, content to stay quietly in Deeks' arms. She reached out and laced her fingers through his.

"There's something I need to tell you. I really don't want to do it now while everything is so perfect, but I need to tell you." She stiffened slightly and he could only imagine the numerous thoughts going through her head. He caressed her arm reassuringly. "It's a good thing Kens," he whispered in her ear, making her shiver.

She tried to sit up to look at him and gauge his mood but he wouldn't let her, preferring to keep her comfortably in his arms. "What is it?"

"On Thursday Hetty called me into her office."

That put Kensi on high alert and again his hand moved on her arm to set her mind at ease. "That must have been when I had gone to do some shooting practise with Sam."

So that's where she had gone. He absently wondered if Sam and Callen had planned that so Kensi was away while Hetty spoke with him. He wouldn't be surprised. Just another piece of proof that they all looked out for one another.

"She asked me..." He stopped. He didn't know what to say. He still thought he should have told her that day and he felt a little bit of guilt that he hadn't.

"What Deeks? What did she ask you?" Kensi had now managed to sit up slightly and turned her head to look him directly in the eyes. Again he wondered what scenarios she was imagining and he doubted the real one was in the mix.

"She asked me if I was ready to become an agent," he rushed out, for her benefit as much as his own. He didn't even know why he felt nervous about telling her this. He knew it was something she had wanted for him. She'd never pushed him on the issue, but he was aware that she wondered why he hadn't taken that step.

Kensi's eyes widened and slowly a smile spread across her lips. "And? What did you tell her?"

Seeing that sweet smile directed at him found him spitting out the whole story in almost record time, even for him. Kensi reacted exactly the way he thought she would as he spoke and when he stopped she threw her arms around his neck and crushed her lips to his. "So, you are Agent Deeks now?" He nodded, still breathless from the spontaneous kiss. "Agent Marty Deeks." She made a face as if she was considering the words then nodded. "Yes, I like the sound of that very much."

"You do? Really?"

"Of course I do. Deeks this means you are permanently a part of our team. I mean you already were in our team. But now no one can take you away. Well, technically they can, like they did me," she said frowning. She was silent for a while and Deeks let her gather her thoughts. "But now LAPD can't come in and take you away from us at their whim."

"That's right." He pulled her back into his arms and echoed his action from before, kissing her temple. "He wanted me now, you know. I would have been undercover right now, and not here with you." He shuddered at the thought of not being here with Kensi right now. The thought of being off on some derelict location, alone and with no back up.

"Really?" Kensi asked without moving. The thought of missing out what they were sharing now made her heart ache, but even worse was the idea that he would be away from her for an undetermined length of time. They had just got back together and she didn't know how she would cope without him so soon after returning. She still had her bad days and it was Deeks being there that helped her through.

"Yeah. But I didn't know that before I signed the papers. Hetty knew and she discussed it with me and had me decide before she told me about LAPD."

"I guess they wouldn't have been happy then, if they needed you." Kensi really didn't care if LAPD were happy but she knew it was important to Deeks.

"Wouldn't have mattered Kens. If they had called me back, I think I would have signed the papers without Hetty asking me. We've been apart too long. I couldn't have done the job properly if all I was doing was thinking about you, wishing you were there with me, watching out for each other. The way Hetty did it was the best way. I made the decision with no emotional judgement. I made the right decision for myself. But I would have done it as soon as I heard about the op." Deeks stopped and took a deep breath. "Bates came and saw me that night."

"What did he say? Was he mad?"

"No, not really. He wished me the best. He was disappointed to lose me, especially now, but he also said that I was where I should be. NCIS was where I belonged. And, he said to say hi to you." Deeks laughed and he felt Kensi smile. "Said I was to look out for you, always." Deeks pondered for a while. "I think he knew about us."

"Deeks," Kensi said in disbelief. "I think everybody knew about us. Except us."

"We knew. We just chose not to see it for whatever stupid reason." Kensi swatted his arm playfully. "What? It's true. We denied it for so long."

"There's one more good thing to come from this." Kensi said quietly

"This?"

"Us."

"What's that?"

"I don't have to worry about ever going on a second date again."

"Or a first date," Deeks growled, tightening his hold on her possessively. "I don't know why you were so bad at second dates before. This one is beyond awesome."

"That's because this one was with you."

He wanted to kiss her. He so badly wanted to kiss her, but he didn't. They fell silent then, content to savour the moment again. He may have brought up the outside world into their secluded haven, but it hadn't spoiled the peace. If anything, he felt Kensi seemed even more at peace, knowing Deeks was now permanently with her, his partner for him to watch over. His partner to watch over him.

It was late in the afternoon when they decided it was time to head back to the boat. After collecting all their things and stowing it in the waterproof container again, Deeks ran towards the water and dived in, surfacing a few feet away, to find Kensi still on the shore laughing at him. She waded in slowly then swam towards him. He stood up and shook his head, his hair sending droplets of water flying in all directions. The look of surprise on Kensi's face confused him. "What?" he asked.

"That was just like the time you came out of that bath house when you had to go visit Kirkin You shook your head exactly like that, spraying me, and Sabatino." Kensi said laughing.

Deeks just growled at the mention of his name.

"What's the matter Deeks? Jealous?" She patted his cheek.

"Of him. Pssshhh! No," he said but Kensi could tell he was lying about that. She looked up at him, squinting her eyes in disbelief. "Maybe." He drew out the word in his drawl and Kensi giggled.

"You had no reason to be. He never interested me. You know that don't you? How could he when I had you?"

Deeks shrugged. Her eyes twinkled up at him and he could see mischief in her expression. "What are you thinking, Fern?"

She gave him a devious smile. "I was thinking, seeing we were talking about bath houses, and nakedness…"

"Were we talking about nakedness?" Deeks asked, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Well, you were naked in that pool." She gave him another smile, this time one filled with mischief and laughter. "Maybe later you could put on a show for me."

"A show?" he asked frowning in confusion. He was not following her line of thought.

"Yeah, you know," she said swimming closer and wrapping her legs around him. "Like you did when you were at law school." He reacted by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer.

Realisation dawned on him and he laughed, nodding his head in resignation. "You are never going to let me forget that are you?"

"Nope. At least not until I get my own private show," she said with a wink.

Deeks laughed again, desire now burning within him. He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "I think that can be arranged."

Just as she was about to lift her lips for a kiss, Kensi let out a squeal of fright, grasping on to Deeks tightly. Deeks looked around to see what had scared her and saw nothing just feeling the swish of water below him. Was it a large fish? "Kens, what's up?"

Her eyes were wide, full of fear then suddenly she relaxed, a smile spreading across her face. "Deeks, look." She pointed behind him.

What looked like a young dolphin was swimming around them, occasionally surfacing, but mostly staying underwater, which was why Kensi had not initially known what it was. A second dolphin joined the first and broke the water with a majestic leap, its sleek lines effortlessly rising from and then diving back in the water with ease. Deeks moved to Kensi's side, sliding his arm around her waist, enjoying the impromptu show they were being given. Slowly they swam together towards the boat, the two dolphins swimming alongside with them, surfacing at will, almost knowing how much delight they were giving their audience. At one point Kensi was able to touch the older one before it jumped up and made its dolphin sounds. It was like they were talking to them.

"That was amazing Deeks," Kensi said as they climbed back into the boat, barely able to keep still as she all but jumped about trying to watch them. The dolphins seems to realise they were back at their destination and with one final dive, they disappeared.

"It was. Even I have never experienced anything like that, even with the amount of time I spend in the water. They are quite the characters," Deeks mused.

Kensi turned to look at Deeks her eyes glistening with excitement. "This really is turning into a special trip. I mean I know I planned this one but there is no way I could have planned that in a million years. It's been perfect."

"It has," Deeks said, brushing her wet hair out of her face. Kensi sighed happily at his touch, leaning into it. "Why don't you go and clean up. I'll get dinner started."

"Okay," she said and lazily dropped a kiss on his lips before turning away. If only she knew what that simple kiss did to him.

Deeks made himself busy in the kitchen and it gave him ample time to reflect on the day and how much Kensi meant to him. Lucky for him, most of the meal was prepared and it gave him more time to think but it also gave him more time to think about the evening ahead. He shouldn't be, but he was feeling incredibly nervous. Just thinking of Kensi had his pulse beating irregularly. No one had ever made him feel like that. Not before Kensi. And he knew that no one would ever again.

Once he had dinner ready to be served, it was his turn to clean up. Kensi had popped her head in to tell him she was ready and he'd told her to go enjoy the sunset, he would be out soon. He was pleased he had brought some nice clothes, because he had debated on whether he should or not, not having known where they were going. They may be on a boat, just the two of them, but he wanted to dress up. It seemed appropriate. He put on some nice pants and the blue shirt that he didn't even realise brought out the blue in his eyes. He may not notice, but Kensi did.

Now, in this time and space, it was just the two of them, with no interruptions, no one to demand anything of them. No one could even contact them and he was going to make every second count. Kensi was going to know exactly how he felt about her and how important she was to him before the night was through.

As he walked through the cabin he spotted an arrangement of flowers. He plucked out a rose to give to Kensi and lifted it to his nose. It smelled good, but didn't compare to Kensi.

Walking out the back where he knew she would be, he stopped still in the doorway at the vision before him. His breath caught in his lungs at the pure beauty he was witnessing. The setting sun, so warm and bright before, was now sparkling softly on the water with shades of orange and pink glowing over the sky. The light reflecting off the surface surrounded Kensi in an earthy glow and he'd never seen her looking so beautiful as she stood watching the sun begin to set slowly into the ocean. Dressed in a pretty white sun dress that accentuated her natural tan, her hair flowing in the gentle breeze as she watched out over the ocean, he couldn't help but feel like the luckiest man on the planet. He snapped a sneaky photo to remind him of this moment always. He knew Kensi would always be this beautiful but right now he knew this memory was always going to be special in his heart.

Deeks walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding up the rose for her to see, watching her as she inhaled its scent before looking over her shoulder to smile at him. That smile held so much promise. Gently kissing the back of her neck as he had wanted to earlier, she leaned into him, sighing softly, relaxing into his arms. "You are so beautiful Kensi," he said before spinning her around in his embrace and kissing her, unable to deny himself any longer. This woman in his arms was the most important person in the world to him and he needed to show her just how important she was to him.

Pure emotions took over from that moment. Looking deeply into her eyes he was taken to a place where only the two of them existed. His voice was raw when he spoke. "You have no idea how much you mean to me Kensi. You are the one who is always on my mind and always there for me to get me through anything, and I hope I do the same for you. You've taken over here," he tapped his head, "and here," tapping his heart. "We helped each other to always climb out of the darkness we live. You are the bright light in my life."

"Deeks, I feel the same way," she breathed. Deeks was all she needed. She couldn't express what she was feeling to him as it was overwhelming her. It was how she always knew she could trust him to be there for her in any situation, how he was always loyal to her, without a fault. How he would back her up, no questions asked and how he loved her, so selflessly. She felt his love so strongly it sometimes scared her. But mostly it brought her peace and happiness.

"I know you do Kens." He pulled her in for another kiss, equally as gentle as the last one, but seemed to say so much more. These gentle kisses were close to being her undoing. Never before, ever, had she felt so much love from one person. So much complete, all-consuming love.

"What we share Kens." He stopped to collect his thoughts before continuing, because he had to get this right. He was speaking from the heart and it was beating out of control. His eyes locked with hers as he continued. "What we share, it's the reason I breathe." He stopped again and swallowed hard. Licking his suddenly dry lips he took her hands in his, lifting them for a soft kiss. "Without you beside me, at work, and at home, I have no reason to live. While you were away I was an empty shell. I never thought that my life would ever be so intertwined with another person, but I am with you. It's been so long getting to here but this is definitely a love story." He brushed back a stray lock of her hair that had escaped in the gentle breeze and his hand trembled. "A beautiful and intense love story. I love you Kensi Marie Blye and I need you in my life always. Will you marry me? Will you be my wife?" he asked in a whisper, full of raw emotion.

The sun was almost gone now and still Deeks could see every emotion playing over Kensi's face. What was he thinking coming out and asking Kensi to marry him? He'd made no plans to ask her to marry him, especially not so soon after they had finally gotten back together. But it still felt right. This was going to go one of two ways and the look on Kensi's face was telling him it was going the bad way. Her stunned eyes had him mentally kicking himself for his words. He had spoken them on a rush of pure emotion. But not for a moment did he regret telling her exactly how he felt. His proposal was what he felt in his heart and his heart had taken over.

Kensi blinked several times, a shocked look on her face and he watched and waited, his heart breaking a little as each second ticked by. "It's ok Kensi, I get it," He said, wishing he could turn back time. He hadn't been prepared for this, there was no way she could have been expecting it.

"Deeks."

"No, really. It's okay. It's not the way I would ever have planned this. I just…."

"Deeks…"

"I would have had a ring and… I don't even have a ring,…" he lamented, pulling away slightly, stabbing his fingers through his hair. Kensi reached up to take his hands and held them tight so he couldn't move away.

"Deeks. Yes."

"And I would have been..." And Kensi's words finally registered, his eyes opening wide. He looked down at their hands then back up into her eyes. "What did you say?"

"I said yes Deeks." Kensi smiled at him. A more beautiful smile than he had ever seen in his life.

"You want to...you'll marry me?" Kensi was nodding at him, tears shining in her eyes.

"And Deeks, I cannot imagine a more beautiful proposal. It was real and emotional and I feel the same way about you, and so much more."

With his heart pounding in his chest, Deeks could wait no longer. One arm wound its way around her waist and pulled her close as his other hand cradled her head lovingly, guiding her lips to his. Watching her face every second as his head came down to hers and he sighed softly before their lips came together. He couldn't explain the feelings he was experiencing, to himself or anyone else. All he knew was this was his perfection.

Kensi had been stunned by Deeks' proposal, but she knew it was right for the two of them to promise each other their love. She had always thought, since Jack, that if she was ever asked again she would be scared. She felt no fear right now. She felt no trepidation or nervousness at accepting his impromptu proposal. She may tease him about it later, not having had a concrete plan for the event, but in all honesty, the fact that he had been so moved to ask her with no rehearsal felt even more special to her. It was honest and pure. It was heartfelt and full of love. She couldn't have asked for a more memorable, special proposal if he had planned it. This moment, was her perfection.

It was then that she realised that all the giddiness she had been feeling was not what she had thought it was. It was not giddiness or the feelings of a teenage crush. It was purely and simply love. A love that they shared, a love that would only grow stronger with every passing day.

"I love you Marty," Kensi whispered to him. There was no fear in her words.

He smiled. A soft barely there smile when she used his first name. "What? It's your name," she said to him. She might call him Deeks all the time but it seemed important to her to say his name now. "I should call you by your name, at least away from work."

"I love that you call me Marty." He kissed the tip of her nose. "But I'll never stop smiling at hearing you say you love me."

"I love you Marty, always."

"I love you too Kensi, more than I ever thought possible."

They kissed then, enveloped in the moment. Every dark time, every evil act, every bad thing that had happened to them was forgotten. Nate had been right. What they needed was each other and they would move forward together and make a better world for themselves. This was just the beginning of it. They had so much more before them.

As Deeks took Kensi's hand in his, their eyes locked together, and he began to lead her towards the bedroom he couldn't help but think of the saying, 'Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, but today is a gift. That's why they call it the present'. He couldn't help but feel that living in the present was what they had to do. Their past could not be changed, their future would always be uncertain, but living in the now was what they had with each other. What they needed to concentrate on.

Sometimes complications happen, but together, they would be able to overcome anything.

So that's where this story ends. I am considering an epilogue to tie up all loose ends, so watch out for that. I hope you all liked this story, and to everyone who has read it all the way through, THANK YOU. For every review I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without them I would have given up. And all the followers and favourites. You do make my day. Thanks too to the reviewers who have made suggestions, many I have tried to include. And huge thanks go to Tinkerbella7 for her encouragement. She got me started with this story and always kept me focused. Also Monique who copped all my random questions. You both helped more than you know.

So, should I do that epilogue or is it best left here? Please feel free to drop me a line to tell me how you liked the ending, or if I should continue to an epilogue.

Once again. THANKS.