An upload! It's a Christmas miracle!

Hi everyone, I am very sorry about the lack of updates in the past month and a half(ish). I've been exceptionally busy real life with moving away from my apartment, job interview process, switching majors in university, as well as suffering from an addiction to reading Harry Potter fan fiction currently.

I'm not sure how often I will upload, but I expect it to be (much) more frequently than what is has been this Christmas month.

Chapter 36: The quiet before…

Walking through the tunnel, Kensi allowed herself to relax a bit once more. She and Marty had spent the rest of yesterday's afternoon in the secluded alcove without further mentions of the incident with Jack, but had a lengthy talk about it in the evening. She had finally voiced her worries regarding her hunch that running into him was not a coincidence, which, after some thought, Marty tended to concur with. He had then kindly offered to have a restraining order created, since he had acquired a plethora of contacts in the legal system through his career, he assured her that it would not be that big of a problem to achieve. However, she declined the offer, much to her boyfriend's dismay, before she managed to appease his increasing worry by suggesting that they differ from their routines even further in the upcoming weeks, hence why she was currently walking into the old Spanish Mansion just after six thirty.

Without any reports to complete, the female agent made her way to the gym to blow off some steam, before following the workout with a lengthy session at the gun range. After taking a shower, that almost resulted in her meeting Hetty's quota for how much warm water the agents were allowed to use at one time, she felt a bit of calm washing over her. As she sat back down at her desk, she pushed the thoughts of yesterday's encounter further out of her mind by focusing on filling out a very important form in front of her.

Her two coworkers came in, early as always, and after the usual greetings, she went back to the form, while her two teammates settled at their respective desks. Sam busied himself with filling out some report with upmost care, whilst Callen was reading a Russian newspaper he had acquired from God knows where.

"What's that?" Callen asked, finally giving in to his burning curiosity after fighting it for five minutes. He had seen his female colleague filling in a blanket of some sort, but had no idea what said blanket was for. Since he had not gotten a paper to fill out, he doubted that it was related to a prior case or even a survey for the team to fill out, but he also doubted that Kensi would bring papers from home to fill out at work, so it had to have something to do with NCIS, he reasoned.

"What's what?" She asked, pretending not to understand his question. Truth was that she really did not want to tell Callen or Sam yet, nor did she want her two friends in the Ops Center to know just yet. For now, she was content with it just being her secret…well, and Hetty's, since Kensi had had to ask her for the form to fill out, not that she doubted that the operations manager already knew.

The team leader raised an eyebrow as if asking 'really?', but Kensi merely ignored his silent prompt for her to explain, as she finished filling out the last lines on the document, grabbing the piece of paper and walking towards Hetty's office with it before further enquiries could be made.

"Don't look at me G," Sam laughed, after his partner's quizzical gaze shifted to him.

"Am I right to assume these are the papers relating to your change of address?" The operations manager asked with an amused expression.

"It is," she responded, even though she knew Hetty already knew that. "I've put Sunday this week as the change, since the movers are coming over on Saturday," she informed her boss.

"I am happy for you, Kensi," she informed the young agent, catching her off guard by the use of her first name. "It is not often in our line of work, that we are able to find partners, who truly seem to understand, but I have a feeling that Mr. Deeks is one of those few."

Kensi nodded, as she allowed a smile to form, "He doesn't understand everything, but he tries. He knows that I can't tell him everything since it's classified, but he still wants to know about both the good and the bad."

"And that is more than anyone of us can ask of a person," Hetty smiled satisfactory. Happy that she had been right in her assumptions regarding Kensi's partner at home.

"It really is," Kensi concurred.

"So if it's not Mr. Deeks who is causing whatever worries you are currently feeling who is it?" Hetty asked knowingly, causing Kensi's eyebrows to shoot up in surprise at the sudden change in subject.

She should not have been surprised that Hetty had somehow managed to notice her slight uneasiness, it was just one of the many things that their operations manager was capable of. While feeling the intense gaze from her boss, she weighed up her options as to whether or not to include Hetty in, what happened yesterday, finally deciding that it would be an extra layer of security for her and Marty, she told Hetty about the short, but intense, encounter she had with her ex-fiancé.

"I see," Hetty commented after her agent finished explaining, what was causing her current worry. She sat silently watching the young female across from her shifted in her seat, no doubt uncomfortable at the prolonged silence. "Am I to assume that you have already taken some measures to protect both yourself and Mr. Deeks?"

Kensi quickly nodded, "We change our routine daily. He has a flexible schedule apart from planned meetings, and he's been a really good sport about everything." The younger agent thought back to the conversation she had first had with her, back then, new boyfriend in regards to her routine.

He had just suggested a 'secret code word' for both of them, which, after a moment of thought, she actually thought was quite a good idea. She quickly reasoned that the word in question had to be something that they would not ordinarily use and that it should be something they could realistically say in front of strangers without tipping them off.

Immediately she felt regret, when she saw the cheeky grin on his face, his ocean blue eyes sparkling mischievously, before he proudly proclaimed, "Sugarbear!"

She attempted a scolding glare, but was unable to keep a smile from tugging at her lips. She really should not have been surprised about his almost childish demeanor from time to time. There was also the point, that she really could not chastise him for the word, as it did check all the requirements, which she had put up for the word.

Before she was able to say anything, he chuckled slightly before proudly sitting up even straighter, albeit with mischief still clearly printed on his face. "And your word will be 'Casanova', since, you know, I'm a sexy and romantic man."

Shaking her head slightly in amusement, "He actually suggested that we each have a secret code word for both of us, in case we get in trouble and can't outright say so."

The operation manager nodded thoughtfully at the addition, but if anyone had looked carefully, they would have seen Hetty's mouth twitch upwards ever so slightly in amusement, before she was able to control her features once more.

"Anything else?" Kensi asked after a moment of silence.

"Not at the current moment, I believe," Hetty smiled easily at her subordinate as she gestured towards the bullpen, silently giving the female agent permission to leave the impromptu meeting.

...

Although there was some general prodding from her two team members throughout the day, she neither disclosed, what she had been talking to Hetty about, nor what the document she had been filled out in the beginning of the day was.

Pulling up at their house, she immediately noticed an unfamiliar vehicle. The newer model Cadillac immediately put the trained agent on high alert, as she knew her boyfriend had not said anything about expecting guests. Walking briskly towards the door, she made sure to keep a hand firmly around the grip of her gun on her small.

"Baby, I'm home," she called loudly upon entering her home. Normally it would seem bad tradecraft to announce oneself, but she figured it would work towards deterring any harm bestowed upon her special other in case a perpetrator was with him.

"In the living room," he quickly replied.

The fact that he was in the living room made Kensi loosen her hold on the grip of her gun slightly, knowing that no one with more than a few brain cells would beat someone in the living room, as the plethora of windows would make for easy detection.

Her eyebrows shut up in surprise at the guest, across from her boyfriend sat his best friend, the basketball star, Kip Brigham.

"Hi Kens," Marty greeted her, standing up to welcome her home with a peck on her lips.

"Well I'll be damned," the athlete chuckled. "Here I was thinking good ol' Marty Mar was pulling my leg." He pulled himself up from the lounging char and greeted the brunette kindly, "Nice to meet you under different circumstances."

"Likewise," she accepted the proffered hand. She them turned to her boyfriend, shooting him a slightly disapproving look. "I thought we agreed to text if we got visitors?"

It was part of the whole 'super-secret agent way of life' thing, as Marty had dubbed it, since her instinct automatically turned into overdrive, when unexpected things happened…especially at the current moment, with the looming of her ex-fiancé hanging over their heads as well.

"I just arrived," Kip defused, before changing the subject away from his once partner-in-crime. "Went here straight from the airport; wanted to give you something before heading home."

Marty tried holding back a laugh, when he saw how quickly his girlfriend's demeanor changed upon hearing the idea of receiving a gift. It was one of the many things he had in common with Kensi; their love of receiving, but also especially giving, presents. They were both without parents for the longest time, which meant that they were not used to getting any, and as such, absolutely loved any- and everything regarding the surprises.

"I demanded that I get you two tickets for our game this weekend, since it's the local derby," Kip smiled brightly, as he pulled out two tickets for the LA Clippers versus Los Angeles Lakers.

"Thank you so much," Kensi told him appreciatively. Upon studying the tickets, she noticed that they were courtside seats as well, making her eyes bulge at the prospect of being so close to the action.

They spent another thirty minutes chatting about everything and nothing. Kip was especially interested in how they got into a relationship, never straying from telling his best friend that he was the first, who had predicted it.

Kensi got to hear some hilarious stories from, when Kip and Marty were younger and was happy to hear the fondness, which the famous athlete retold the many mischievous adventures they had endeavored upon.

When Kip left to drive home, much to Kensi's dismay, she and Marty ordered Korean food. After having eaten, they retreated to the living room to spend the rest of their evening cuddled up on the couch with a half-gallon bucket of Rocky Road ice cream, watching America's Next Top model, commenting on all the great, and quite terrible, things that happened on the reality show.

When they finally went to bed, it was quite a bit later than planned. Kensi had insisted it to be a sin to not empty the bucket of ice cream, which meant they 'had' to watch another episode of her beloved show before retiring to bed. Never one to argue against her sugar addiction, Marty merely chucked at her claim before feeding her another spoonful of the treat.