I'm sorry this is late, but I've been sick and my reviewer didn't get a chance to get back to me with suggestions since her work has been keeping her very busy...so all errors are mine.

I still don't own NCIS Los Angeles or any of the characters. I'm just borrowing them for a while I only own my own original characters.

To all of my regular reviewers, I appreciate hearing from each one of you. It means the world to me. I think I answered everyone I could, but if not, know that I appreciate hearing from all of you.

Press that little button and leave a review on your way out to let me know what you think of this latest chapter.

Enjoy.

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CHAPTER 35 - Deeks' New Home

With Lee dead, Kensi and Deeks would be leaving the safe house the next morning. They both were exhausted by the time they arrived there that evening. Marty had convinced Kensi to stop at Yummy Yummy Heart Attack for take-out on the way, so he didn't have to cook. When they arrived, he got two beers out of the refrigerator while she set out the take-out cartons and sporks on the dining room table, laughing a little as she remembered other times they'd used them.

The doorbell rang as Deeks was opening the beers. "I'll get the door Kens."

Monty was in front of him as he opened the door growling softly. When the dog saw who it was, he quit growling and wagged his tail. "Hey Assistant Director Granger, you want to come in?"

"No, I know you're both exhausted and all I want to do myself is to go home to my bed. I'm here to keep my promise." He pulled out a steak from the bag he was carrying. "Here's Monty's steak. Make sure he gets it and not you two or I will hurt you."

"I would never steal from Monty. Isn't that right boy?" He reached down and patted Monty.

Monty could smell the meat and was sitting at attention. He somehow knew that delicious smell was something for him.

"Thanks. I'm going to give it to him right now. Are you sure you don't want to come in for a beer?"

"Maybe another time. See you back at OSP." With that Granger turned and walked down the driveway to his car.

Kensi called out as he closed the door. "Who was it?"

He replied "Granger dropped by a steak for Monty" as he strode into the kitchen. "I asked him if he wanted a beer, but as you can see, he declined." He pulled out a knife, cut the steak into manageable pieces and placed them in Monty's bowl. "Dig in Monty, you've earned it."

He left Monty happily devouring the steak and walked into the dining room. "What were you laughing at Kens, just before Granger got here?"

"Nothing really. I was just remembering other times we've eaten with sporks. Some good memories there."

"Yeah, there are…good ones…ones with us together." His face reflected the good times they'd had. "Here's your beer Sugarbear." With that they both dug into the food enjoying being together and knowing they didn't have to worry about Lee any longer. Once both of them were satisfied, Marty cleaned up and they proceeded upstairs. They were both tired and looking forward to bed, but before that they were going to make good use of the shower together one last time.

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The sun was shining through the windows when Marty woke the next morning. He looked over and chuckled. Kensi was in her starfish position. He carefully got out of bed and went downstairs. He put on a pot of coffee and made breakfast. He was finishing up the frittata when he heard Kensi shuffling down the stairs.

"I smell something good." She was still rubbing sleep from her eyes but looking gorgeous to Marty as always.

"Breakfast is ready, my Ladybird. Your coffee is just the way you like it and I made a frittata. There's also some fresh fruit and scones I picked up."

She took a large drink of the coffee and kissed him on the cheek. "It looks amazing. I'm hungry."

"When aren't you hungry?"

"Shut it."

"Yes dear."

They took their time over breakfast, cleaned up and then packed up their clothes; well, that is he packed while she threw her clothes into the suitcase any which way. He stood back watching the woman he loved and chuckling to himself. When she threw him a dirty look, Marty backed out of the room, packed up Monty's things and took them out to the car. He then went back and carried both his and Kensi's suitcases out while she made sure they hadn't forgotten anything of importance. They took one last look at the safe house and then drove away for the last time.

He was looking forward to seeing the house Nell had found for him. Hetty'd described it to him but seeing the real thing would be even better. He wanted to assure himself that it was closer to the beach than his old apartment as Hetty had told them…not that he doubted her, but his definition of 'closer' might be different than hers.

Kensi programmed the address into her GPS and they were off. It took them some time with all the traffic to arrive at his new place. When they pulled up in front of the address, they both looked at the house, each other and then back at the house. It was a beautiful Craftsman bungalow painted a creamy white with brick work along the front and dark blue trim around the windows. There was what looked like leaded glass in at least one of the rooms upstairs. There was a covered front porch and the front yard was landscaped beautifully.

"Oh my God, it's beautiful." she whispered.

"Yeah, it is. Let's look inside." he replied.

They slid out of the car and met at the beginning of the sidewalk up to the front door. She slipped one hand into his with the other holding Monty's leash. They walked slowly forward; climbed three steps up to the porch, then one step up to the front door. Marty slipped the key into the lock and ushered Kensi into the entrance, stepping in behind her. They looked around the front room with the detective reflecting that Hetty had been downplaying the house just a little. The living room was twice the size of his apartment's and the fireplace was absolutely awesome. His furniture had been arranged throughout the downstairs along with all his books and movies in the built-in bookshelves.

The master bedroom opened off the hallway and had a full bath in it with a half bath across from it. The bedroom was also quite large and Marty's bed had been already set up. They moved through the spacious dining room into the kitchen to find it completely remodeled with top-of-the-line appliances and a breakfast bar that looked out into the back yard. Hetty's description of 'a very nice back yard' was woefully inadequate to describe the large, landscaped yard with a patio off the kitchen sliding glass doors along with a built-in BBQ.

"This is…this is awesome Kens! I can't believe I'm, and I'm hoping you, are going to be living here."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Do you want to?" He was hoping she would say yes even though he hadn't really asked.

"You know Marty, my lease is coming up for renewal next month." Kensi was nervous as hell; and scared but she forced herself to continue. "So if you're serious…I mean…if you really want to…"

Marty interrupted her by pulling her into his arms "Yes Kens, yes…I was serious. I want this. I want to come home with you every night; go to sleep with you by my side and wake up to you every morning. Please move in with me."

Kensi's face lit up with happiness. "Yes, I'll move in with you."

"Great, really! Let's let Monty check out the back yard." He opened the sliding door while Kensi removed Monty's leash. All three of them went outside. Both of them watched as Monty inspected the entire yard; every nook and cranny before moving to the middle of the yard and rolling over and over in delight. He romped back to them with his tail wagging a mile a minute.

"You like it here, don't you boy." Kensi was rubbing his ears as she spoke. Monty gave a woof in reply and then began running around the yard yipping. They watched him for several minutes in silence.

"You know Kens, now that you're going to be moving in here we'll have to clean out your place. I don't want your hoarding to invade our new home."

"I have to have my stuff Marty! It's important to me."

"Kensi, you have empty pizza boxes, science experiments in your refrigerator and I don't even want to guess what other things are hiding in there amidst all the other clutter." He had a grin on his face. "Ow! What was that for?" He rubbed his shoulder where Kensi had smacked him. "That's going to leave a bruise."

"It's not that bad." She replied. "It isn't." The look on Marty's face showed his disbelief. "Shut it or I might change my mind mister."

"Okay…okay" He mimed zipping his lips and then continued. "Let's look at the upstairs Kens. I'll leave the door open so Monty can come inside when he wants to."

"Sounds like a plan Shaggy."

Upstairs they found another bathroom and two bedrooms as well as a sunporch off one of the bedrooms. "I thought Hetty said there were only two bathrooms. Do you think she didn't count the half bath?"

"I guess not. I'm glad there's another bathroom up here though. And the sunporch is absolutely gorgeous. I think we could be very happy here. What do you think?"

"I'd be happy anywhere with you Kens. Wherever you are is home to me. And Hetty was right. I want this house. What do you think about me buying it? She said the owner would let me rent to buy."

"She did, didn't she. I think it would be great. I mean this place is absolutely perfect."

They looked all over the upstairs together. Kensi then remembered about the security system Hetty said had been installed. "Let's find the security system."

"Eric said it was by the front door, but I didn't notice it once I saw the living room. I mean, wow!"

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They checked out the security system and set up the alarm code. They then looked around the downstairs again. In the kitchen they found that the refrigerator and cupboards had been stocked with food. Marty suggested he make something for lunch, but Kensi suggested going out for something to eat since he had made breakfast. "Then we can go back to my place and start packing. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a plan."

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Four hours later both of them were tired but they had made progress in packing up and cleaning Kensi's place. Five large bags had been filled with garbage, old magazines, junk mail and newspapers. The floor of Kensi's living room could actually be seen.

They had packed up her movies and books. There was still a lot to do but they were making progress and had three weeks to finish up. "Let's stop for tonight and go home." Marty took the box she was filling away from her and took her in his arms. "We're both tired and we have time."

"Okay, take me home Marty."

On the drive home, Marty had an idea. "Kens, what do you think about having a party at my…I mean our place. You know, like a house-warming party. We could barbecue in the back yard and ask everyone to bring something to share. You know, like a big potluck for everyone that did so much for us. What do you think?"

"It sounds good…as long as I don't have to do any of the cooking."

"Now why would I want to poison our guests?" He tensed himself for the punch he knew was coming and winced dramatically when she threw it. "Ow, you throw a mean punch."

"You deserved it…I can cook."

"Yeah, but I don't think grilled cheese sandwiches will do it for a barbecue, Fern."

"Shut up! I hate you."

"No you don't, you don't hate me." His eyes were shining and he had a wide smile on his face. "You love me."

"Maybe…sometimes…"

"I love you Kens. You can make me grilled cheese sandwiches tonight if you want to. I love your grilled cheese."

"I love you too. But no grilled cheese for you. I want bulgogi."

"Will you do the bulgogi dance for me?"

"We'll see."

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Over the course of the next several weeks, Marty and Kensi made the house their home. Things got put away, given to charity or thrown away and they settled in to enjoy this new phase of their relationship. There were only a few things left of Kensi's to do something with.

Marty made all the arrangements for the barbecue. He first cleared the date with Hetty. It was going to be in two weeks and Hetty thought it was a great idea. She gave the whole team the weekend off. If any cases came in she was going to assign them to another team. After that, he got input from everyone on what they would contribute to the party. Everyone was looking forward to it and there was enough time before the party for he and Kensi to complete packing up her apartment and getting all of her things arranged in the new house.

The day of the party dawned gloriously with a forecast of beautiful weather in the mid 80's. Marty had woken early and was sitting in the sun porch with a hot cup of coffee in his hand. Kensi was still sleeping but he could hear her starting to move around so he went down to the kitchen and made her a cup just the way she liked it. Proceeding into the bedroom, he waved the coffee cup near her nose. "Wakey, wakey, Light of my life. I have your coffee made just the way you like it."

"S-too early. Lemme sleep some more."

"Come on Sugarbear; we have a party to get ready for. How about I get the shower started for you?"

"Only if you'll join me." She now had her eyes open and was smiling up at him.

"That's a great idea…and so conservation minded. Up and at em then. I'll meet you in the shower."

It didn't take Kensi long to join him and with one thing and another, it was some time before they began preparing for the day.

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As people arrived that afternoon, they all asked for a tour of the house. Either Marty or Kensi would show them around. When Callen and Nell arrived, Marty swept her into a hug and thanked her for doing the leg working finding him a new place to live. He told her she couldn't have done a better job. "This house is awesome Nell."

"That's my girl you're hugging there. Get your own." Callen smirked.

"He already has his own." came back as Kensi planted a kiss on Marty's cheek. "Go on out to the back yard. Sam and Michelle and the kids are already here."

A short while later, the party was in full swing. The kids were romping with Monty, and Sam had taken over grill duties while Marty made sure everyone had something to drink and somewhere to sit. Angela and Richard were there with one of their grandchildren, along with Lt. Bates. Wat and Hank were there with their significant others and even Ben had dropped by for a little while. The conversations were lively with the normal jokes and banter being passed around the group.

When the meat was ready everyone dug in with enthusiasm. Sounds of appreciation and complements were lavished on the cooks and the dishes that had been brought to share. Nell had even brought a beautiful cake along with ice cream for dessert. Kensi began begging for dessert almost before she finished her meal.

"I'm ready for dessert. Anyone else want some?"

"Kensi, before you dive into the dessert I want to say something." Marty was standing in front of his team and friends. Once they all became quiet and looked toward him he started feeling nervous. He blew out a breath "Yeah. Um, I wanted to tell all of you how thankful I am to have you for my friends and surrogate family. I wouldn't have survived without all of you looking for me, praying for me and being there for me. I…I can't ever repay you for what you've done for me." His voice was a little rough and he could feel tears beginning to form in his eyes. "So anyway, here's a toast to say thanks so much to all of you. You're my heroes."

Hetty replied for everyone. "You're worth it Mr. Deeks. And remember, you rescued yourself. We just helped where we could. Now…who is ready for that ice-cream that is calling to Miss Blye?"

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The party lasted long into the night. Before anyone left, everyone pitched in to clean up and put away leftover food so that Marty and Kensi wouldn't have to do it all. Sam and Michelle were the first of the team to leave, but they had to get Kamram to bed and Aiden had to get back to school. The last ones to leave were Hetty and Owen.

After everyone had gone, Kensi and Marty retired to the sunporch on the second floor and relaxed with beers in their hands.

"I think the party was a success don't you?" Kensi was relaxed with her head on Marty's shoulder.

"I do. It was great having everyone here but I'm ready for bed. What about you?"

"I'm ready for anything as long as I have you." They shared a kiss full of promise and went to bed.