AN: So sorry for the delay in updating. Life and work both conspired to take away much of my free time this week, and as much as I wanted to write this, it just wasn't meant to be. Thanks to Max and Fern 4Ever for assuring me that "It's OK," even though she thought that sentiment was longer when she wrote it (but maybe if she said it in Latin?). Best laugh I had all week long, and much needed. In addition to the sad news of Miguel Ferrer's passing, my husband and I each also lost an aunt in the past two weeks. May they all rest in peace.
Spoilers: Up through season 7 and including spoilers for season 8. This is speculation on the storyline that will cover Daniela Ruah's maternity leave. Now that the premier has aired, this is officially AU.
Disclaimer: I own the DVDs for Seasons 1 through 7. I am not making any money from this.
Kensi felt good. Scratch that, she felt great. She and Deeks were both doing better in the wake of Tom Gerard's death, the locations for their wedding and reception were confirmed, her red blood cell count had recently risen to normal limits, and she just finished an incredible workout.
With adequate oxygen now being transported to all areas of her body, Kensi's energy had finally returned to a level that enabled her to reach and maintain a satisfying aerobic workout. She was thrilled to be able to work up a real sweat and push her body again without it failing her.
Arriving at the bullpen after her post-workout shower, Kensi spotted Nell and Eric talking to Callen, Sam, and Hetty. But Deeks was nowhere to be seen. As she neared her desk, preparing to reach for her shoulder bag, she heard his voice sing out, "Happy one-hundredth day post-BMT to you, happy one-hundredth day post-BMT to you, happy one-hundredth day post-BMT dear Kensalina, happy one-hundredth day post-BMT to you!"
By the time the song was finished, her entire team had joined in, and Deeks in front of her holding a tray of doughnuts arranged into a 100, adorned with about a dozen lit candles. "It's a catchy tune, but the lyrics need some work," she quipped.
"Stop complaining and blow out your candles, now that you have all the hot air you need."
Kensi did so and thanked Deeks with a brief kiss on the cheek as he put the tray down on his own desk and invited everyone to help themselves.
Sam, inspecting the treats but not selecting one, asked, "Does he do this every day, Kensalino? Ply you with sugar and prove he can count to a hundred?"
"No, friends, today is a special day, worthy of much joy and celebration," Deeks interjected, putting his arm around Kensi's waist. "Statistically speaking, Kensi's risk of developing complications as a result of her bone marrow transplant drops significantly after the first hundred days. Yet another milestone has been reached, and surpassed, by my healthier-every-day Ladybird."
Kensi accepted all the congratulations and continued well-wishes from her friends and teammates.
"So when's the next big milestone?" Callen wanted to know.
This time Kensi answered. "About a month or two from now, hopefully. And that's the biggest one: when my last major blood count is normal and I'm considered cured of the aplastic anemia."
"One month from now starts the window in which the doctors anticipated Kensi would be fully recovered." Deeks added.
"It also starts the timeframe we used to pick the dates for the 'Kensi's cured!' pool, don't forget," chimed in Nell.
"So how long were you on the elliptical today, Kens? Sam and I have a bet to settle." Callen asked around a bite of pastry.
"An hour total, half of that at level four," she grinned, proud of her progress. "So, who wins?"
Sam pulled a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and handed it over to G.
Deeks pretended to be offended, "I for one can't believe anyone would bet against my partner."
"I didn't bet against her, man. I lost the coin toss, which meant I got stuck with fifty minutes or less."
"So at this point you two may as well just bet on heads or tails," Eric added, swallowing the last of his doughnut.
"I'm just glad I can be of some use around here, even if it is for entertainment value only." Kensi meandered back to Deeks' desk to choose another treat. Picking one, she considered, "You know, it's been a while since I've baked. Hetty, what were your choices for a Friday breakfast cake again?"
"I believe I requested a banana bread or pumpkin loaf, Ms. Blye. But a nice lemon poppy seed would also suit."
Nodding her head once in determination, Kensi replied, "Okay, breakfast on me Friday. Be prepared to be amazed again."
Two Fridays later, the team continued to be impressed by Kensi's baking skills. Last week's lemon poppy seed bread, complete with a fruit salad to make Sam happy, was nothing compared with the carrot cake loaf the team was currently devouring.
"Wow, Kensi, this cream cheese frosting is just the right amount of sweet," Nell raved.
"And there's enough carrot, pineapple, and raisin in here that it should count as a health food," noted Deeks, with an eye toward Sam.
"Yeah, if you ignore the sugar, flour and oil," replied the SEAL.
"Hey, don't forget the good fats, from the chopped almonds and coconut sprinkled on top," Kensi added, supporting Deeks.
"Uh huh," Sam was unconvinced. "At least Kensi's increasing her workout regularly; hope the rest of you plan to do the same, with all the extra fat and calories you're taking in."
"For your information, Sam, I used unsweetened apple sauce instead of oil this week and last week."
Sam's eyebrows rose in interest. "Yeah? Maybe I'll have just a sliver, then."
Kensi beamed and cut him a thin slice. Raising her voice a bit to get everyone's attention, she added, "Beale's date and walnut loaf or Callen's honey cake next week? I'm willing to leave it up to a vote."
Pulling his buzzing phone from his back pocket, Eric looked at the message and frowned. "I vote for the walnut loaf, but we might have to save the rest of the opinions for later." He waved his device at the group, "Looks like we've got a case."
Nell said, "Join us in ops in a minute?" as she and Beale headed for the stairs. Callen, Sam, and Deeks quickly ate their remaining cake, and the senior agents started toward the second floor.
"I guess I'll clean this up and head home," Kensi muttered.
Deeks reached for her hand. "Hey. Another six weeks at most and you'll be coming up there with me."
She gave him the smile he loved. "Yeah." When her own phone rang, Kensi nodded toward the stairs as she picked it up from her desk. "Go ahead. Just stop by to say goodbye before you head out?"
"Always," Deeks promised as he turned and walked away. He hadn't made it to the landing when he heard Kensi say, "Oh, hi Dr. Popa."
The door to ops swooshed closed behind Callen and Sam. Hetty and Granger were already in the room. Looking beyond them, Granger asked, "Where's Deeks?"
"He was right behind us," Callen said.
"No, he turned around for something," Sam replied. "Probably wanted to shove another piece of carrot cake down his throat."
Just then they heard the man in question shouting from the bullpen. Rushing from the room, the team looked over the railing in time to see Deeks throw his arms around Kensi, lift her off her feet, and spin her around as they appeared to both laugh and cry.
Eric stammered, "Did Kensi and Deeks just get engaged?"
"He better not have asked her at work," Nell muttered.
"Well, something good just happened," Callen observed.
They were surprised when it was Granger who called down to the obviously happy couple, "Sit-rep, Detective," in his typically bored-sounding tone.
Deeks stood still and put Kensi down but did not let her go. The group upstairs watched as the partners seemed to have a debate they couldn't hear.
"Deeks, Blye! Now! What the hell is going on?" Granger tried his hand at annoyed this time.
"It's over – Kensi's cured!" Deeks called up, his voice breaking.
Gasps of surprise and excitement were heard as Callen, Sam, Nell, and Eric started toward the stairs. Granger reminded them, "We are on the clock here, people. We have a case."
They stopped and looked at Hetty, who said, "Five minutes, Owen. Let's take five minutes to celebrate with Ms. Blye. We don't get too many occasions like this in our line of work."
At that, the four rushed down the stairs en masse. Had he not been so engrossed in Kensi at the moment, Deeks would have commented how they reminded him of a slightly smaller Brady Bunch.
Hugs and handshakes were given and received, and not a few tears were shed. When Sam congratulated Deeks, the detective became serious. "Listen man, you once told me that you owed me for the rest of your life."
"And I meant it. You need something, brother?"
"No, I just want to tell you that we're even. You saved Kensi's life when you thought to send that email to Keating. I'll never forget that."
"That was nothing, Deeks. I hit a couple of keys on my computer. You withstood torture and didn't blow my wife's cover. I'm still in your debt."
"The outcome was the same, though. Kensi's not my wife yet, but she will be one day, and that's thanks to you. So even, yeah?" Deeks held out his hand again.
"Yeah," Sam said, pulling the detective in for a brief manly embrace.
"Do I have reason to be jealous, boys?" Kensi inquired with a smile.
"Never, Princess. Come here," Deeks held out his hand and Kensi took it.
Eric wandered over, "I thought we weren't expecting this for, like, another month?"
Deeks, his arm back around Kensi, replied, "I was just reminding Fern that her last blood count would likely come up in the next several weeks when her doctor called."
"So what happened?" This from Nell.
Kensi explained, "Dr. Popa said they would wait until my red and white blood cells and platelets were all within normal limits for about three weeks before declaring that they're stable and I'm cured. You all know my red and white counts were already normal, and they've stayed that way. Given the typical course of recovery after a bone marrow transplant, we knew my platelet count could have been within normal limits as early as this week, but that they wouldn't say I'm cured until they stayed that way for a few more weeks."
"I hung back when the doc called because I was hoping she'd say Kensi's platelets had finally hit that normal level and that all we'd have to do is sit back and watch them stay that way for three more weeks," Deeks added.
"Apparently my platelet count took a major jump into the normal range three weeks ago, and Dr. Popa didn't tell me because she thought the results were an anomaly. They don't normally do that –"
"Leave it to our Kick-Ass Kensi here to be on the far end of the curve," Deeks interjected proudly.
"But they stayed there. And as of today, I am officially no longer suffering the effects of aplastic anemia, and am medically cleared to resume all activities of a normal life."
"So we can get you into a combat training regimen as soon as this case is over to get you field ready as soon as possible?" Sam asked.
"Yup," Kensi said with glee. "Oh, except that my central line is still in. So we'll have to figure out a way to work around that until they remove it. In fact, as soon as you guys leave, I'm going to head for the gym and celebrate by letting loose on the Nexersys until all of my muscles ache."
"That's my girl," encouraged Deeks, as he offered Kensi a hand to high-five. "And whenever I get home tonight, we'll work out again," he whispered in her ear.
"Since Kensi's cured earlier than we anticipated, what happens to the money we all ponied up for the pool?" Callen asked.
Nell grinned, "Actually, there was someone who picked every day for the month before the timeframe the doctors gave."
All heads turned to look at Hetty, who simply shrugged. "What can I say? Ms. Blye is a member of this very elite team; it should not be a surprise to any of us that she exceeded expectations in this situation. You all do it on a routine basis."
Kensi was back and waiting for Deeks when he, Callen, and Sam returned to the mission early that evening. Ending a call, she tried to furtively wipe tears from her eyes, but Deeks noticed and made a beeline toward her.
Sitting on the couch next to her, Deeks took Kensi's hand. "Baby? Is everything okay? Why are you crying?"
"I was just talking to Ben. I wanted to tell him the good news, thank him again for everything."
"I thought the students at Keating aren't permitted to keep phones."
"They aren't, but I called the commandant and asked him to have Ben call me on one of the school phones when he was allowed to. Oh, the commandant told me that Ben is up for a major award at graduation, and that if I wanted to write a letter, his bone marrow donation would be taken into consideration by the selection committee."
"That sounds good. He should get some kind of recognition for what he did for you. For us." Deeks kissed the back of her hand. "You get in touch with the moms?"
"Yes, both will be home tonight and know we'll be stopping by."
"Do they have any idea?"
"Ooh, they have an idea, alright. The wrong one, though."
"Ah, they think we got engaged."
"You think they'll be disappointed that all they're getting is a healthy Kensi?"
"Bite your tongue, Kensalina. And when we get home later, I'll bite the rest of you."
Deeks couldn't sleep. It was just after five in the morning and he was wide awake, despite the fact that he should be exhausted. Yesterday had been a very busy and emotional day, starting with news of Kensi's cure and ending with visits to their mothers and promises that they would meet for dinner tonight to officially celebrate. Then of course when they finally made it home, he and Kensi spent several hours celebrating in their own way.
Unlike the past times he'd suffered from insomnia, Deeks' current bout of sleeplessness was not the result of worry or fear, or the avoidance of nightmares. Instead he was excited. He couldn't sleep because his thoughts kept wandering to tonight. Before dinner with the moms, Deeks was planning to propose to Kensi.
Of course Kensi knew. She figured it out the moment he made dinner reservations for nine o'clock. Since it was the end of May, sunset wouldn't be until nearly eight tonight, and Deeks was damned if he wasn't going to do this proposal right.
But he still had to get through the day. Deeks didn't think he could handle this level of anticipation for the next fifteen hours. He was sure he would have the same idiotic grin that he could feel on his lips right now plastered on his face all day long. He didn't know how he would refrain from just blurting out "Please marry me" anytime he was near Kensi. And since it was Saturday, they would be spending much of the day together.
When the idea came to him, Deeks' pulse quickened and his smile widened, if that was even possible. Checking his surfing app, Deeks made up his mind and acted on it immediately. Rolling over, he nudged Kensi's shoulder. "Kens? You awake?"
"Am now. 'Sup?" She sounded groggy, and Deeks couldn't blame her. But he also couldn't wait any longer.
"Now that we both are, what do you say we catch some waves?"
Her eyes opened, but barely. "You want to go surfing? At," Kensi reached out an arm to grab her phone. "Five-fifteen in the morning?" She didn't sound enthused by the idea.
"If we leave soon we can watch the sun come up."
"You really want to do this now? I'm sure there's something else we can do that doesn't require actually getting out of bed." She ran her hand down his chest.
Grabbing her hand before Kensi was able to distract him, Deeks said, "Yes, I really want to go surfing now. Come on, Princess, it's been a long time since you've been out on the water with me." He wasn't above begging if he had to.
Kensi threw the covers off and rolled away, sighing. "Fine. You start the coffee and I'll be ready to leave in ten minutes."
They arrived just in time. Planting their boards in the sand, Deeks wrapped his arms around Kensi from behind and they watched the sky begin to lighten above the mountains in the distance.
When he could just see the giant glowing orb peek out from the lower foothills, Deeks spoke. "You were right."
"Of course I was," Kensi smirked. "About what?"
"That we shouldn't have gotten engaged on my birthday. This is how it should feel, the anticipation so much that we can't stand to wait anymore." Deeks couldn't see Kensi's smile, but he could feel it, as his cheek was against hers, his chin on her shoulder. He also felt her hands tighten on his arms.
"I'll be honest Deeks, I'm not sure I can hold out until tonight." Kensi turned in his arms and placed her palms flat against his chest. "I know, talked about the sunset on the beach, and you made our dinner reservations late enough to propose first – "
She was silenced by Deeks' lips against hers, a lingering and promising kiss. When it ended, Kensi looked into Deeks' eyes and saw her future reflected brightly. When he spoke, it took her a second or two to register the words.
"That's good, Kensalina, because I don't want to wait anymore. I love you, so, so much. I woke up this morning and all I could think about was this moment, and how much I want to take the next step with you. You're healthy, we've know we want to have a family, and we decided what we want to do next, in a 'we'll-figure-it-out' sort of way. It's time to get started living our lives again."
Deeks took one of Kensi's hands in his and dropped down to one knee. He pulled the ring out of the pocket of his board shorts and held it up to her. "Kensi Marie Blye, will you marry me?"
Kensi took a few breaths before she knelt in front of Deeks so they were eye to eye. She put her free hand on his cheek. "How could I say no?"
"Is that a yes?"
Kensi nodded eagerly, "Of course that's a yes. Yes! Yes, Marty Deeks, I love you and I want to marry you." Deeks' hand trembled slightly as he slid the ring on Kensi's finger. Kensi's smile dimmed a few watts. "You're not nervous, are you?" she asked, surprised.
Deeks shook his head, and his own smile widened. "Excited. Thrilled. Happy beyond belief. But not nervous." The ring finally where it belonged, Deeks took Kensi's face in his hands and kissed his fiancée for the first time.
Still giddy from the morning, Kensi and Deeks held hands as he drove them to meet their mothers for dinner. Deeks idly twisted the ring back and forth on Kensi's finger.
"Good call suggesting we change the reservation, Princess. I'm exhausted." Given that they no longer had to wait until after a sunset proposal, they were able to reschedule dinner for an earlier time.
"Well we did get up early, and had a pretty active day." After they spent several long and very enjoyable minutes kissing on the beach as a newly engaged couple, Kensi encouraged Deeks to ride some waves. He tried to convince her to join him, but Kensi demurred, fearful she would lose her ring in the surf, and more than reluctant to lock it in the car. Instead, she sat on the shore and alternated between watching Deeks and the sparkling of her new diamonds in the brightening daylight.
They made love as soon as they got home. After preparing and eating a late breakfast together, Kensi took Monty for a run because she had been itching to start jogging again, and Deeks joined her in the shower when she returned. They then continued their pursuits in the bedroom.
"And I swore to my mom that she and your mom would be the first to know when we got engaged," Kensi reminded him.
"Yeah, which is more than they deserve after they tried to ambush us. Thanks again, by the way, for saving me from the Attack of Mama that day."
"It was the least I could do considering it was my fault we weren't engaged yet."
"Nah, it was so much better this way; it felt exactly how should have felt. I'm glad we waited."
Kensi squeezed his hand. "They are so not going to be expecting this tonight."
"You think we should tell them right off, or wait to see if one of them notices your ring?"
"I don't know. Let's just see how it plays out? We shouldn't wait too long, though."
"A little improvising with my partner. Looking forward to it." Deeks pulled her hand to his lips for a kiss.
"So are you really not telling me where we're having dinner tonight?"
"We'll be there in like, ten minutes, Fern. You can wait until then."
When they turned onto the block of the restaurant, Kensi said, "Seriously, Deeks? You invited our mothers to eat with us here?"
"You know I've always wanted to try this place."
He grabbed her hand again as they walked through the door and held it as they were seated at their table. They were discussing what to drink when they saw Julia and Roberta being escorted to them. Kensi kept her hand in Deeks' as their mothers kissed them hello.
"I'm glad you haven't ordered drinks yet, because I requested a bottle of champagne," Julia said. "We need to toast to your wonderful news, Sweetheart."
"Yes, and I'm glad you changed the reservation, Martin. This isn't Europe, you know. Nine o'clock is too late to for dinner."
"Yeah, well, we had a change in plans, and our evening opened up," Deeks partially explained.
"Is everything okay?" Julia asked.
Kensi nodded, "Everything's fine, Mom. It's just that…Deeks was going to propose to me at sunset, but then decided against it."
Julia gasped in disappointment as Roberta threw her napkin down on the table in frustration. "I think you've had a few too many concussions from your job, Martin. What is wrong with you?"
"Wow, baby, that was just mean," Deeks whispered in Kensi's ear. "I love it."
"He got a little impatient, Roberta. Turns out he couldn't wait past sunrise," Kensi grinned as she spoke.
"Kensi?" Julia questioned, a hopeful look on her face.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Roberta asked.
Deeks held up Kensi's hand as he announced, "Yes, mama and mama-in-law-to-be. I asked my beautiful Kensalina to marry me, and she accepted."
All heads at the nearby tables turned at the squeals of delight and excitement coming from the older women. When Deeks tried to shush his mother, Roberta responded loudly, "Forgive me if I'm over the moon that my only child has finally smartened up and asked his wonderful girlfriend to be his wife."
By the time a new round of hugs and kisses was exchanged and both women oohed and ahhed over the ring, the champagne had arrived and was poured.
Julia made the first toast. "To Kensi and Marty, perfect partners. I'm so glad to have you as a son-in-law, Marty."
"My son couldn't have picked a better woman, Kensi. Especially know that you know how to cook, bake, and clean," Roberta said as she tilted her glass toward her future daughter-in-law.
Deeks put his head in his hand in embarrassment, but Kensi took the compliment in stride. "Thank you, Roberta."
Looking at the menu a few minutes later, Roberta remarked, "This is a nice place, Martin. Do you two come here often on government salaries?"
"We've only been here once before, actually. But it was a very memorable night." Deeks said.
Kensi kicked him under the table.
"What do you recommend?" Julia asked.
Kensi coughed as Deeks explained, "Well, see…we, uh, didn't exactly stay long enough for dinner."
"I don't understand," Julia said, clearly confused.
"It was our first date, and –"
"That was not a date, Deeks!" Kensi interrupted. Looking at their mothers, she clarified, "I thought we were just having tacos for dinner one night after work, and he took me here. There was no talk of it being anything other than partners grabbing a bite to eat beforehand."
"But you didn't eat," Roberta reminded her.
"No, because my feisty partner here called me out on my inability to say what I meant. So I told her exactly what I wanted. And it wasn't dinner. Then we left."
Now it was Kensi's turn to hide her face in her hands, mortified. "Oh my God, Deeks, did you really just tell our mothers that I slept with you before we even had an actual date?"
"Technically, Sugar Bear, I think you just did that," Deeks said with a smirk.
"That all right, darling. I for one can't believe you two waited as long as you did before becoming involved," Julia assured her daughter.
"Do you think you can move a little faster when it comes to giving us grandbabies?" Roberta asked.
Monday was Memorial Day, and as such, the team was on-call should something come up, but otherwise had the day off. Kensi carried a bouquet of red roses, white lilies, and blue irises as she and Deeks walked through the cemetery.
Easily locating her father's grave, Kensi kneeled and placed the flowers on the ground. She slowly traced her finger along the letters of his name before sitting and crossing her legs in front of her. Deeks squatted down next to but slightly behind Kensi, his hand on her back to offer support.
Kensi remained quiet for several minutes before speaking, her voice hushed but clear. "Hi Dad. I promised you one day I'd bring Deeks with me, and here he is."
Deeks filled in the silence when Kensi didn't seem inclined to go on just yet. "I'm honored to finally meet you, sir. Please, don't get up."
As he hoped, Kensi let out a small laugh. Deeks moved his hand to her shoulder, and she rubbed her cheek against it. "Told you he was a funny guy. Too funny for his own good sometimes, but I love him anyway. But you knew that, because I've already told you all about Deeks. We have news, though." She took a small breath. "We're getting married." Kensi's voice broke a little.
Deeks took over. "I don't know how, sir, but I convinced your daughter to marry me. And as much as I do like to joke around, I've never been more serious than when I tell you now, like I tell Kensi every day, how much I love her. And I plan to be the best husband that I can. I will continue to love her, respect her, honor her, and cherish her until the day I die. Which I hope will be a long, long time from now. So if you have any pull up there…" He stopped talking, sensing that Kensi was ready to continue.
"God, Dad, I wish you were here right now. I wish you could walk me down the aisle and dance with me after Deeks dances with his mother. I wish you could get to know Deeks and find out for yourself what a wonderful man he is." Her tears were flowing freely now, but Kensi's voice was steady. "I know you'd love him because you'd see how much I love him, and how happy he makes me. Just like I know that one day he's going to come back here alone and promise you that he'll always protect me. But he knows better than to say that in front of me."
Deeks chuckled. She wasn't wrong. "How about we both promise you that we'll take care of each other? You know Kensi, and so do I, so we know I'm in good hands. And if you keep an eye from up there at all, you know she is too."
Heading from Kensi's car to the mission doors Tuesday morning, Deeks took Kensi's hand and kissed it right below her ring. He asked, "So who do you think will be the first one to notice your new bling?"
Glancing quickly at the security camera, Kensi said, "Nell is probably holding in a scream as we speak, and will be running down the stairs before we get to our desks."
Realizing he had just put the jewelry in question on display for anyone who might be monitoring the video feeds, and that Eric and Nell tended to do just that as the team arrived in the morning, Deeks argued, "But we're here early."
Before they left for the day on Friday, Sam and Callen had agreed to meet Kensi before work today to help assess her level of readiness to return to the field. Kensi hadn't been kidding when she'd mentioned to Sam during her hospitalization that she wanted their help making sure she was functioning at peak performance before she officially came back to work.
"Have you ever come to the mission, at any time of the day or night, and Nell or Eric wasn't already here?"
"Good point," Deeks acknowledged.
Kensi's prediction was off by a few seconds. They had just made it to their desks and were greeting Callen and Sam when the redhead came scurrying down the stairs. Eric stayed at the top, in case it was a false alarm.
"Oh my gosh, is that what it looked like on your left hand?"
Deeks answered as he moved closer to his fiancée, "That depends on what you think it looked like."
"Stop teasing, Deeks," Kensi elbowed him gently. To Nell she held out her hand and said, "Yes!"
"That's what she said," Deeks declared proudly.
At that, Eric started down and Callen and Sam stood to congratulate the pair.
"It's about time, brother," Sam said warmly as he shook Deeks' hand and gave him a man-hug.
"I'm happy for you both," Callen told Kensi as they embraced.
"Wow, all this good news from the two of you," Eric gushed as he hugged first Deeks and then Kensi. "Wait, are you going to come in next week and tell us you're pregnant?"
Kensi stiffened slightly, but she was sure only Deeks noticed. They had an appointment with her OB/GYN in a few weeks, and Kensi wasn't optimistic about what they would hear. Her menstrual cycle hadn't returned to normal since her treatment, and was still sporadic at best. She assumed her doctor would say she was in early menopause as a result of the chemotherapy.
Instead she said, "Uh, no Eric, I think this is enough excitement for now. Although I am hoping to be back in the field within the next couple of weeks."
"Which reminds me, we came in early for a reason. And it's not just to ogle at your new jewelry," Sam teased.
"As much as I want to get into some hand-to-hand today, I think we're going to have to limit it to you guys checking out my form and strength with the Nexersys or someone wearing pads because of my central line. I can't risk getting hit or jarred in the chest until it's removed." Kensi was slightly disappointed with the continued limitation, but excited to be able to put her full strength and energy back into fight training.
"Which will be Friday. We have to remember to tell Hetty when she comes in," Deeks said.
"She's in, Mr. Deeks," Hetty spoke from behind the detective, who was not at all successful in suppressing a small flinch of surprise. "And on her way to put a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator. I brought it in to toast to Ms. Blye's recovery after work this evening, but it seems we have something else to celebrate as well." At Deeks' gleeful nod of confirmation, she took each of their hands, "I'm delighted for you both. I know you will make your marriage work as well as your partnership does."
Walking into the gym several minutes later, Callen said to the younger agents, "Now that we're alone with you, Sam and I have something serious we need to discuss."
"What is it?" Kensi was mildly concerned.
Sam started, "You're both as close as family to us, and we want nothing but happiness for the two of you."
Callen took over, "And we're sure you're going to have a long, successful marriage. But – "
"Really?" Deeks voice rose an octave. "The 'If you hurt her' speech? Yeah, I know, if I hurt Kensi, you two will make me suffer."
"Worse," Callen responded. "We'll let Kensi make you suffer."
"And," Sam continued, looking at Kensi, "If you hurt Deeks, you'll have to answer to me and G."
Kensi and Deeks both laughed. "Deal," they said in unison.
Almost two weeks later, nearly nine months after their helicopter was shot down, Kensi returned to work. She was physically healthy, mentally ready, and most importantly had the approval of her team that her skills were at least as good as they had been almost a year ago.
Pulling into their parking spot, Kensi turned off the engine, but neither she nor Deeks moved to exit the car. Deeks put his hand over Kensi's as it rested on the gear shift between them. "You good?"
"Better than that."
"Nervous?"
"More than I thought I'd be, actually."
"You'll be great. As soon as we're out there and in the middle of a gun fight, or you get to kick some ass, or we need to run from a bomb, the adrenaline will kick in and it'll be like all this never happened."
Kensi smiled sadly. "It'll never be like this didn't happen."
"Yeah, no, that was a bad choice of words. But you know what I mean."
"I do."
"That's right, keep practicing those words, fiancée."
Now Kensi smiled brightly before taking a breath and refocusing herself. "You know what's weird? I'm not saying I'd choose to go through all of this again if given the option, and it's not that I'm glad it happened. But I can't say I'm unhappy about it either, in the end."
"I get that. The events of the past year certainly helped us reprioritize things."
Kensi nodded her agreement. "I've known for a long time that we could get each other through anything, as partners. Because, really, we have. And I believed that we could do the same thing as a couple. But now I know, you know?"
"I do." When Kensi rolled her eyes and shook her head, Deeks defended himself, "Hey, I need the practice too! Don't want to mess it up on the big day."
"I love you." She brought Deeks' hand to her lips for a gentle kiss.
"I love you too, Kensi." Deeks took a moment to look at his future wife and thank whatever deities might be listening that after all they had been though in the past year, Kensi was alive, well, and about to have his back in the field again. At least until they were ready to move other things to the top of their priorities. "You ready to go out and save the world?"
"As long as you're next to me, I'm ready for anything, partner."
AN2: So this was the last real chapter, folks. There will be an epilogue of undetermined length (could be about this long, could be much shorter), depending on real life and my muse. Unfortunately, I'm not sure when I'll be posting it (as it still has to be written). I'm aiming for next weekend, but again, stupid RL hasn't been all that helpful lately, so I'm not sure how realistic that is. Drop-dead, outside limit in my head is before the last episode of the mole arc airs on February 19, but I'm shooting for much sooner than that. Thanks for hanging in there!
AN3: Confession time: Deeks' "Please, don't get up" line to Don Blye may seem in poor taste to some, but is straight out of my life. Shortly after my husband and I got engaged, we visited his godfather's grave (my husband was very close to his godfather, who by all accounts had a great sense of humor), and I said those exact same words to his gravestone when my husband "introduced" us.
