Chapter 29: Exasperation
When she reached the door to the boatshed once more, the tough female agent was absolutely fuming at the indignant attitude her colleague had showed towards her boyfriend. She took determined strides towards where she had last seen the larger agent, but as she turned the corner into the main area of the boatshed, she could see on the monitor, that her two teammates had already started interrogating one of the two arrested men. No doubt, a tactical decision from the team lead in order to give her some time to calm down.
She huffed loudly at the thought of her supposedly cunning teammates. It would take more than just a few extra minutes for her to back down from the big bad ex-Navy SEAL, who at this point was at the very top of her shit list. Not only had the large agent acted disrespectfully towards her boyfriend, he had also only spoken in an accusatory and condescending tone to the blond lawyer, which definitely did not sit well with Kensi, as Marty had done absolutely nothing to warrant the contemptuous attitude.
The anger she felt did not dull as the interrogation continued, she followed the screen, where she could see the two partners working like a well-oiled machine. They easily convinced the culprit sitting across from them that it would be in his best interest to spill everything, if he did not want to get a one-way ticket to the beautiful place that was Guantanamo Bay.
A few minutes after they had cracked the culprit, it was clear that the man did not have any additional information to give, and Kensi heard the door to the interrogation room open and readied herself for the confrontation, she knew would come.
The light chatter of the two senior agents came to an abrupt halt when they turned the corner and the clearly annoyed brunette came into sight, glaring angrily in their direction.
Sam put his hands up defensively in anticipation of the verbal assault as he attempted to nip the aggression in the bud. "I know you might be mad, but before any-"
"Dogs go mad," she interrupted, anger lacing her every word as she took a step closer to the big agent, getting in his face. "People, people get angry… actually I am not even angry, I'm pissed," she corrected, almost spitting out the last word at him, causing the big man to visibly flinch.
Sam was about to say something, but was stopped as Kensi put her hand up and continued speaking, "No, you do not get a say yet. I cannot believe you would treat anyone like that, especially someone who you know I'm in a relationship with. He was held at gunpoint not even hours ago for crying out loud and you act as if he was the one holding the gun. Was it because I hid the relationship from you? Because that's on me, not him, so I'm asking, what the hell is your deal?"
Callen and Sam both looked slightly shell-shocked at the anger that had poured from the female agent. Sam took a deep breath, realizing how much he really had overstepped this time.
"Look, Kensi," he started his defense after a moment of silence. "I'm sorry about my attitude towards him, it was disrespectful."
"You're damn right it was," the words flew out of her mouth, before she had a chance to stop herself.
"Kensi," the team lead warned.
"Why did you treat him like that? You judge people based on how they look, is that it? Don't feel he's 'worth it' or something like that?" She continued the questioning vehemently, ignoring her boss' warning.
The ex-Navy SEAL took a deep breath, unsure of how to explain himself, "Look, I'm sorry about my attitude towards him, it's just…" he trailed off, looking for the right words.
"It's just… what?" She asked, clearly unsatisfied with his half-answer.
"I'm not sure, honestly." He stated genuinely, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "I guess it was a combination of my annoyance that you kept your relationship hidden from us… and…" he cleared his throat, giving him a few seconds before continuing. He knew he had hurt not only the lawyer, but, more importantly to him, he had also hurt the woman, whom he had come to think of almost as a younger sister. "And you're right. I have a habit of judging people too quickly, it serves well when undercover, but obviously not in situations like this. I was wrong in this case, obviously, and I'm sorry for lashing out. I think I was thrown off by the fact that you are with someone who looked so… I don't know, unkempt?" He ventured the last sentence, knowing that it would get a rise from the woman still standing dangerously close to him, but he owed it to her to be honest.
"Unkempt? Because he actually has hair?" She spat incredulously, and at any other point in time she would have been proud of the comedic retort. "You were disrespectful because he is shaggy?"
"Like I said, I was in the wrong. I'm not trying to excuse what I did, but you wanted the truth so there it is. I was upset by the fact that you felt the need to hide your relationship from us, and then I judged a book by its cover and was obviously amiss. It was unprofessional and it won't happen again."
She had taken a step back during his explanation and apology in order to be able to fully look at him, wanting to see if he spoke the truth or not. Finding no signs that he was anything but truthful, she accepted his answer as sincere. She knew how hard it was for the larger agent to admit his faults, and although she was pleased that he had been candid, she was still fuming over the senior agent being so hostile towards her man, when he had just had a traumatic experience less than a few hours earlier.
"I didn't tell you about my relationship because of the last time you two 'talked' with him." Her voice still fiery as she stated her reasoning, nodding towards the team lead as well. "You dragged the worst part of his life into the limelight and it really hurt him. I just didn't want him to deal with it or you so soon after everything."
Both men saw how she visibly deflated, when she spoke about the incident during their last encounter with the blond lawyer. They had both felt the wrath of the female agent at that point as well, and as they discovered, Hell hath no fury but the one of Kensi Blye.
"Are you good for now, Kensi?" The team lead ventured, using a non-confrontational voice, "We still have another suspect to question, and we need to make sure that the missile software is safe."
Sam looked questioningly at his female colleague, knowing that he would want nothing more than to leave it at that, but also knowing that it was not his call to make. He was certain, that he would still have to pay for the unkind comments he made towards Kensi's romantic companion.
She thought about it for a moment, "I'm willing to make a temporary ceasefire…" She allowed herself a slight smile, "If you buy me some donuts, whilst Callen and I interrogate the other man."
"Deal," Sam was quick to answer, knowing he was off the hook, even if only for a short period.
Kensi nodded in agreement before walking past both senior agents and into the secondary interrogation room, to see if they could get any additional information from the captured culprit.
...
It was a lot later than she would have wanted, when she arrived at the front door of his Malibu house. The door was locked, but she had been given a spare key the month before, so she did not bother knocking and instead just let herself in.
She found him sprawled out on his couch, laptop sitting in his lap, the screen still open on the document he was working on, giving her an indication that he had only just dozed off. She took a minute to just stand and watch the man sleep, focusing on his relaxed breathing as his chest raised rhythmically.
Deciding that she had stood idle long enough, she silently walked to the sleeping form and carefully picked up the laptop and put it on the coffee table. She knelt down next to him and placed a hand tenderly on his chest, the feeling of his heartbeat a comfortable reminder that they both made it through the day. Her second hand went and ruffled his hair, her fingers gingerly moving through his golden locks as he slowly roused from sleep.
He leaned into her touch, smacking his lips drowsily as he returned to the land of the conscious. "Kens?" He asked sleepily, leaning into her touch that settled on his cheek.
"Who else would it be?" She chuckled.
"What time is it?" He asked, slowly sitting upright in the couch.
"Just past eight," she said as she sat down next to him on the couch, leaning her head on the shoulder. After the whole ordeal earlier in the day, she felt almost compelled to touch him at any possibility.
"I'm sorry," he interrupted the silence. "I didn't mean to fall asleep," he confessed almost bashfully.
Even though she did not believe it possible, her expression softened further. She always thought, his embarrassment whenever she would wake him up on the couch was adorable, and she would never tire from seeing it.
"You obviously needed it." She turned her head, pecking him on his cheek, "You eaten yet?"
"Nope," he shook his head. "I wanted to wait for you."
"I'll order something then," she went towards the kitchen, where she knew the take-out menus were. "You want anything in particular?"
"I'm good with whatever," he smiled easily at her.
"Korean it is, then." She happily exclaimed.
She quickly placed their order and plumped down next to her boyfriend, leaning into him. The feeling of contentedness flooded over her now they were both together. She felt her heart flutter, when he pressed a tender kiss to her temple before leaning his head on hers, his low hum, which she knew meant that he was completely relaxed, was almost her undoing, as she once again felt the different feelings that had flared during the case.
Her throat started tightening, as she thought back over the day, to the moment after Callen had pulled the trigger, killing the person whom had used the most important man in her life as a human shield. The immediate aftermath of pure dread, as she had rushed to her boyfriend who lied supine on the floor.
"A penny for your thoughts," he bumped her shoulder.
"Huh?" Her intelligent reply sounded, as she had been lost in the dreaded memory.
"I can practically feel the tension radiating off you," he looked at her softly. "What's going on?"
"I was just thinking back on today," she admitted. She normally hated talking about her feelings and she knew he would not push her, but for once in her adult life, she actually found herself wanting to open up, wanting someone else to share the burden of her feelings.
As expected, he did not push her to reveal anything, instead he gently caressed her arm in silent support, letting her gather her thoughts before speaking.
"I was scared out of my mind, when I saw you in that room," she broke the silence.
"I'd almost be insulted if you weren't."
She shook her head, grateful at him for lighting the mood, but she wanted to get it all off her chest. "When I saw that guy pointing his gun at you," she finally choked out past the lump that had formed in her throat, her voice heavy with grief as an unshed layer of tears formed in her eyes.
"I'm still here," he reminded her in a whisper. "You and your team saved me."
"I know, but…" she was at a loss for how to express herself. The feeling of dread still lingering in the forefront of her mind.
"You got me through it, Kens," he started. "I'm not going to lie and say that I'm a hundred percent right now, but I think I'm doing better than could be expected… and I've got you to thank for that."
She smiled at him unsurely, not used to receiving such heartfelt compliments and certainly not sure how to respond to them. She settled for leaning into him, her head on his shoulder and hand hovering above his heart. He gingerly ran his fingers through her hair in a calming manner, content with just being together in the moment.
"I kind of went off on Sam after you left," she admitted more lightheartedly than the previous confession.
He looked at her surprised cocking an eyebrow as a silent inquiry.
"He acted so bad towards you, Marty… and you didn't deserve that," he could hear her worry for him once more, but let her take her time forming words. "So, I read him the riot act."
Marty let out a low whistle at the thought, turning his head skyward before chuckling, "I would have paid to see that." When he looked back at the beautifully mismatched eyes, he could see some residual anger still lingering, and he suddenly felt bad for the entire thing. "Look, Kens… I'm sorry about you and Sam, I don't want to be the cause of a falling out between you two."
"That's all on him, please don't worry about it."
The bell rang before he could respond, signaling the arrival of their beloved Korean take-out. Deciding to leave the heavier talks for another evening, they spent the remainder together on the couch watching whatever mindless television Kensi wanted before heading to bed, the feeling of safety overwhelming them as they fell asleep cuddled together.
Not sure if the ending was a bit too mushy(?), let me know how you feel!
