Episodes 2.09 - Absolution and 2.10 - Deliverance

Deeks's heart thuds painfully in his chest as his quick paced walk becomes a sprint as he hurries up the many stairs of the stadium. After handing over a (fake) little black book of cold war secrets to a Russian Agent, he had wanted to grab the man and shake him until he gave up the whereabouts of his wife. When the Agent had motioned up the stairs towards an entrance, Deeks had trusted that if he followed the unsaid instructions he would find his wife. But the expression on the Russian's face - the smirk and undeniable sense triumph - had Deeks questioning whether he would find his wife alive.

He made it up the stairs to the entrance and ran through the tunnel leading to the indoor walkway that surrounded the stadium. During the season, when games were being held here, there would vendors of both food and products to serve the tens of thousands of fans.

Today, the inside walkway is quiet and deserted.

Deeks pauses at the end of the tunnel, the walkway stretching away from him and wrapping around the curve of the stadium in both directions. Breathing hard, he spins around, searching for any sign of his wife.

"Kens!" He calls.

There is no answer.

He tries again, desperate to find her. "Kensi!"

The hall around him remains silent.

He runs a hand over his face, desperate. In his earwig, he can hear Callen and Sam muttering to each other as they prepare to overtake the Russians. He shakes his head and reaches to turn off the comm, needing to be able to focus.

He stands still. Silent. Listening. Hoping against hope that she is near and she is okay.

His chest heaves and he closes his eyes, trying to calm himself. After she'd been taken from him, the Russian's had sent a link to a video feed. Kensi had been standing, still and scared, in what looked like a small room. She was near a corner, so that means at least two walls. But the only source of light had been from above, so it must be closed in. He strides forward, heading for a smaller hallway off the entrance to the stadium. At the end is a door. Probably a storage room.

The door is unlocked, and he silently twists the knob. He draws his gun and pushes into the room, prepared to do whatever is needed to save his wife if she is here.

Kensi is standing on the far side of an otherwise empty room.

"Kensi," he breathes in relief.

"Marty, stop," she commands.

He pauses two steps into the room and stares at his oddly still wife. She's clutching her arms around her own torso and she's breathing hard. Her hair is dishevelled, but she's clearly made no move to so much as brush it back from her eyes. Her face is pale and damp with sweat. She's trembling slightly and looks absolutely exhausted.

"Switch off the lights," she practically pleads.

Deeks feels his chest tighten before he even reaches for the light switch. Kensi's posture and tone scream to him that this nightmare is not over yet.

He switches off the light and a series of red lines light up the room between him and Kensi. She's effectively trapped in the corner, separated from him by a sea of laser beams.

He puffs his cheeks and exhales slowly. "Okay. Now we know why you didn't move." When he had stared forlornly up at the video feed beside Callen and Sam, not knowing where his wife was, none of them had been able to guess why she had been standing so still.

She meets his eyes from across the room, her posture strained and expression defeated.

He takes another breath. No matter what this is, he is not letting her die. He will not stand here across the room while she suffers.

"They're triggers," she explains, probably repeating what has been told to her by the asshole Russians who had taken her from him just a few hours earlier. "Break the beam and the explosives detonate."

He exhales sharply and nods. "Okay. Okay, calling the bomb squad." He begins to reach for his cell phone, but she shakes her head, stopping him.

"Marty, please," she begs. "I can't stand here any longer. I can't... Please."

He swears he can hear his heart breaking apart at her tone. His wife is fierce and strong. A force of nature.

He's never seen her so defeated. So desperate. It can only mean this is really, really bad. And he knows there's no way he can say no to her when she's begging him to help her.

Exhaling again, he nods. He will get her out of this. She is his wife and his partner and she is not going to die today.

"Yeah, okay. It's okay," he tries to offer some comfort, wanting nothing more than to stride across the room and take her into his arms. But right now, separated by something that could end their life together, he is doing the best he can to comfort them both. "I, uh... It's going to be okay. We'll go with Plan B."

She nods, eyes imploring and filled with trust. "What's Plan B?"

"I, uh... I'm thinking."

She exhales and her body deflates ever so slightly.

He meets her eyes as evenly as he can. "I just need a minute. It's going to be okay. I promise."

She nods, still defeated, but also still trusting.

He runs his hand through his hair as he takes in the situation and tries to look at it rationally. He fights to clear his mind of the last few day's events. The search for the little black book of cold war secrets. Saving Hetty from a past cold war rival. Thinking it was over, only to have it all thrown back in their face when a man from Hetty's past was murdered and agents from so many countries descended on Los Angeles in search of the little black book. The team thinking it was safely tucked away in a safety deposit box at a bank. Him and Kensi being the bait to lure the Russians away from the bank while Sam accessed the safety deposit box. Thinking he had gotten away from the Russians after picking Kensi up and a brief car chase, only to be cornered. Standing outside the car, weapons drawn, the two of them against three Russian agents. Four of us die and one of us lives, the head Russian agent had said before demanding Kensi go with them.

He had offered himself up in her place. He had done everything he could. He had begged and pleaded and demanded she stay.

But she had turned to him, so must trust in her eyes. It's okay. You'll get me back.

He exhales sharply now. Because she had given herself up to save him. And she's looking at him now with the same trust as she had then.

He is not going to let her down. Her life - their lives and life together - is in his hands.

In his hands. He looks down at his gun and then up at the lasers.

He nods to himself and begins to attach the tactical laser pointer to his gun.

"Plan B is to put me out of my misery?" She asks, looking to know the plan.

He huffs a laughing breath and then turns serious again. "Laser triggers," he states, motioning at the beams and the black receivers attached at multiple points around the room. He holds up his gun, laser attached. "If the collector receives light at the same frequency, it's not going to register that the beams been broken."

She nods along. "Like in that book we read. About the casino heist."

He nods. "Exactly."

She closes her eyes for a long moment.

He feels his calm slipping. "Or I can call the bomb squad."

She opens her eyes and shakes her head. "No. I need this to be over. The bomb squad could take hours. I can't stand here that long."

He stares back at her, feeling his eyes sting at her hopelessness.

"I trust you," she tells him.

"I love you," he says back.

She nods, her eyes welling as well. "I love you," she echoes. She takes a breath. "I've loved our life, Marty-"

"No," he says sharply. "You don't get to say goodbye to me. You don't ever get to say goodbye."

A single tear slips down her cheek. "I don't want to say goodbye."

"Then don't."

"I need you to know..."

He blinks furiously against the stinging in his own eyes. "I know," he breathes. "God, Kens, I know."

She nods. "Good." She swallows hard. "If this doesn't work... You get yourself out of this room-"

"Not a chance," he says, cutting her off again. "You're getting out of this, Kensi. And if you don't..." He shakes his head. "If you don't, then we go down fighting together."

"Marty..."

He shakes his head. "We are both getting out of this," he says with more confidence than he is feeling. "We have so much more coming to us. And we deserve more together. The house. Working together every day, being partners. Our long awaited vacation. Even..." He swallows hard as his voice cracks. "Even starting a family one day."

She meets his eyes for a long moment. Then she takes a breath and stands a little stronger. "You're right." She takes another breath. "Okay, Marty. I'm ready."

"Okay," he echoes. "Where do you want to start?"

She motions to a diagonal beam that crosses in front of her. "This one."

He raises his weapon and flicks on the laser. He finds the receiver for the beam and holds steady. "Okay."

He keeps his focus on the receiver, but in the corner of his eye he can see her shuffling around the beam, doing her best to avoid breaking the beam lest his laser not be enough to save them. After the longest and most stressful moment of his life, she stills.

"Okay," she says quietly.

He flicks his eyes to her to make sure she is clear before he moves his laser from the receiver.

She is barely any closer to him, but her eyes are alight with determination now. One step forward has served to prove to her that this is possible. She motions to the next laser.

He finds the receiver. Again, from the corner of his eye he watches her move. "Doing awesome, Kens. No hurry."

"No hurry," she echoes.

"Just think of the awesome story we'll have when this is done."

She huffs a breath, not quite able to laugh. "A story we won't be allowed to tell anyone."

He smiles at that. "We'll tell the grandkids one day."

She finishes traversing the most recent beam and stops. "That sounds really good."

He meets her eyes and nods encouragingly. "It's going to happen."

She nods back at him. "I believe you."

Deeks offers his wife a smile, amazed as always by her strength and her bravery.

The next obstacle is a pair of beams. She has to step over the bottom one and duck under the top one simultaneously. And he can only block one.

"You're pretty awesome, you know," he tells her as she is contorting her body to make it through.

"I try," she says back.

"I hated that they took you and not me." He swallows down the memory of the desperation that had overtaken him as she had been guided into the car and taken away from him. "But right now I'm thinking it's better than if it was you because there is no way I could pull off this contortionist routine."

Having finished this set of lasers, she stands and manages to offer him a hint of a smile. "Yeah, you're not that flexible."

He huffs. "I do yoga with you."

"You try to do yoga with me," she counters.

Deeks smiles at his wife, grateful she is able to stay calm and banter in this situation. "I am a normal amount of flexible. It's you who has super human abilities."

"I try," she says.

They line up for the next beam and she steps over it without issue.

"How did you find me?" She asks.

He shakes his head. "Let's get you out of here and then I'll explain."

She meets his eyes for a moment and then motions to the next beam. "Please, Marty. I need something to distract me."

He lines up his laser with the applicable receiver. "The Russians demanded the book in exchange for you. But the book wasn't in the safety deposit box."

"Where was it?"

"Who knows. Nell created a fake book with microdots. Not enough to hold up to real inspection, but enough to work long enough to get them to tell me where you were."

She clears the beam and stops, breathing heavy and clearly needing a short break. She closes her eyes and breathes in and then out.

"Almost done," he tells her. She's made it two thirds of the way across the room.

"I just want to go home," she whispers.

"We will. Soon. To our house," he reminds, wanting her to stay positive. They had officially moved in a week earlier. Work is still needed, but all the major remodeling has been done. The new floors were installed without issue. Most of the painting is done. Their new appliances and furniture arrived as expected. Their things fit seamlessly in the new home. And the state of the art security system is up and running.

She opens her eyes. "Our house," she echoes.

"We'll go home today and rest. But then we need to finish unpacking this weekend," he reminds, giving her something to look forward to. "All our pictures need a place to be displayed. And we need a new frame for the picture of us with the house."

She nods and glances at the red lines around her. "Almost done."

"Almost," he confirms.

She motions to the next beam.

"Ready?"

She nods.

He turns on his laser and once it's lined up with the receiver, Kensi contorts herself under the low beam in a deadly version of limbo.

"Where are Callen and Sam?" She asks, apparently still needing the distraction.

"On site. Going after the Russians."

"What did they say?"

"About?"

She finishes the beam and stands upright. She considers him for a moment. "You didn't tell them?"

He stares back at her before realizing what she's asking. "About us?" He shakes his head. "No. I didn't tell them."

She stares back at him, looking almost disappointed. "I thought you would have. Pretty sure I would have been out of my mind if they had taken you instead of me."

"Oh, I was out of my mind," he agrees. "But they were distracted by their own concern for you while I freaked out. And then I realized if I told them, they would pull me off the case." He motions to the lasers around them. "They definitely wouldn't have let me go after you and handle something like this." And there was no way he was going to allow himself to be taken off the case.

"Yeah, you're probably pretty compromised."

He half smiles at that. "Probably. But there is nowhere else I would rather be right now, unless you were there with me." He exhales slowly. "We'll tell them one day. Soon. But not out of desperation. Out of choice."

She nods. "Agreed." She glances at the next set of laser beams. The last set separating the two of them. A set of beams cross in front of her.

He follows her focus, knowing she can traverse one if he blocks the other. He raises his gun and points the laser, but frowns when he can't line it up with the receiver. "I can't get it," he tells her, sucking in a ragged breath at the implication.

She shuffles forward, standing so close to him, but separated by a set of beams she can't possible clear. She closes her eyes and he sees her body tremble.

He knows she's been standing here for hours. She's exhausted and in pain. He will not make her stand where she is now, so much closer to freedom and yet not close at all, to wait for the bomb squad.

He returns his gun to the back waistband of his pants. When she opens her eyes, he reaches his hands out to her between the beams.

She glances at his proffered hands and then looks back up to meet his eyes. She swallows hard, clearly afraid, but her eyes are shining with faith in him.

"Are you sure?"

"No," he says, keeping his eyes on hers. "But we're getting out of this together or not at all."

"Together," she breathes, taking his hands. "Not at all isn't okay. We have too much to live for."

He closes his hands strongly around her wrists as she does the same to him. "Agreed." He will pull her out of this room with more strength that he knows he possesses if he has to. He is not going to let her die here and now.

"On three." He says. "You ready?"

She nods, eyes still trained on his, the complete faith in him not wavering.

"One," he says.

"Two," she follows.

"Three!" they say together.

As Kensi lunges forward, Deeks pulls her towards himself with as much effort as possible. He's falling backwards when the room lights up. Heat explodes around them. Then he hears the blast. Still clutching to his wife, he flails through the heated air.

He finally stops moving when he hits something hard. The wind knocks out of his lungs. Pain explodes behind his eyes and a roaring sounds in his ears. There's pressure all around him.

A moment passes and then another. He realizes he's lying on his back on the ground. And he's pretty sure he's alive and in one piece. Gasping for breath, his arms flail out and he realizes Kensi is on top of him. Still disoriented, his hands grasp for her body, holding her close. He struggles to open his eyes, seeing stars before the intensity of the light makes him think he's in the middle of a fire.

But his pupils finally respond and filter the bright light.

Sunlight.

They really made it outside the room.

His hands begin to make sense of the body on top of him and press against her back. She's warm to the touch from the explosion, but he can't feel any obvious burns or injuries. He can feel her breathing hard against him.

He breathes his own sigh of relief. Because they're both alive.

She lifts her head from his chest and meets his eyes. She's still breathing hard, but manages to find his gaze. "Oh... we're..."

"Yeah," he manages.

Her breath hitches and he holds her tighter.

She swallows hard and continues to pant. She stares down at him as she slowly regains control over her breathing. "Hi," she finally manages.

He's not sure if he's laughing or sobbing in relief. "Hi," he echoes. He moves one hand from her back to hold her hair away from her face. "You good?"

"I think so. You?"

"I think so."

Her breath slowing, she lays her head down onto his chest. For a moment, they lay together, calm and quiet. He holds her to him, needing the tactile reminder that she is alive. They're okay; they got out together.

A hissing noise draws his attention and he realizes the roaring noise he's hearing is not in his head, but the fire now raging in the room.

A room they really need to move away from.

He shifts under her and groans. He's landed hard and he's sure to have an array of bruises up his back. Not to mention he must have cracked his head on the ground because it's screaming at him now.

Kensi looks up in concern, but he manages to shift upwards and kiss her before she can comment.

He doesn't care about the pain. He has his wife in his arms and she's alive. That is what matters to him in this moment.

"We should move," he manages.

"Yeah." She rolls off of him and manages to sit upright.

He sits up beside her. "You good?" He knows he already asked, but he's probably going to need a hundred assurances after today.

She shakes her head like she's trying to clear it and then turns to meet his eyes. "I really gotta pee."

He actually finds himself laughing at the banality of it all.

She struggles to her feet and he follows her lead. It's a sports arena, so he knows there have to been numerous bathrooms. He leads her into the main hallway and immediately spots a sign. He motions towards it and she nods, heading quickly for the door.

Once she's out of sight, he turns to stare down the hallway where smoke is coming out the door. He stares for a long moment, his mind sluggish, before reaching to turn his comm back on, knowing he needs to call the fire in so the fire department can be notified.

The moment the comm is active he flinches and is almost taken to his knees by the excessive sound now screaming into his already throbbing head.

"Deeks, status!" Callen is demanding.

"What's your location?" Comes Sam's voice.

"Where the hell are they?" Callen says.

"I'm trying to get a location," is Eric's response.

He blinks away the tears suddenly stinging his eyes at the sensation and closes his eyes. "We're good," he speaks.

The other sounds fall away for a moment. He breathes in relief.

"Deeks, where are you?" Sam again.

"Upper hallway. South west side. There was an explosion. We need to call the fire department."

"On it," Eric says.

"How bad?" Callen asks.

He turns to stare at the fire licking the doors of the room. "Contained for now."

"Kensi?"

"She's good."

"And you?"

"I'm good." He sways ever so slightly, eyes closing again. "But look guys, I really need to turn my comm off." He swallows hard, fighting a wave of nausea.

"Are you sure you're okay, Deeks?" Callen demands.

"Just hit my head. Can't...can't take the noise much longer."

"Turn off your comm. I'm on my way to you," Sam says.

"See you soon." He turns off his comm and sighs in relief. He's able to open his eyes again. It's still far too bright for his liking, but he moves forward, heading towards the bathroom and his wife.

He hesitates at the door, slow to realize the stadium is empty and he's not about to walk in on anyone but his wife in the women's bathroom.

He pushes open the door and spots Kensi standing in front of one of the many sinks. She's wiping her face with a handful of paper towels. Her eyes are red rimmed and she looks absolutely exhausted.

He feels exhausted too, but he moves towards her, needing to touch her and hold her and remind himself they're safe.

She turns to him and practically falls into his arms. Her body is damp with sweat and the water she's been wiping across her face and neck, but he doesn't care. He holds her tight and ducks his head to bury at the crook of her neck.

"God, I love you," he murmurs.

"I love you, too," she whispers back fiercely, clutching to him.

"I don't know what I would do without you."

"You saved me," she says. "You don't need to think about that."

He pulls back far enough to meet her eyes. He offers her the best smile he's currently able to offer. "You said I'd get you back."

She reaches to brush his hair back from his eyes. "I knew you would."

He loses himself in her eyes, but then flinches when she moves her hand through his hair, brushing over the tender part of the back of his head.

She frowns. "You okay?"

"I think I hit my head."

She pulls her hand from his hair and looks concerned.

"No, hey, I'm okay. Sore, but it's worth it to have you standing in front of me right now."

She nods, accepting his words for now. "I really want to go home."

"Me, too."

Before he can say anything more, he hears Sam calling his name from outside, reminding him there's a whole world out there and they have responsibilities.

"We still have things to do," he says. "But then we're going home together."

"Together," she confirms.

He leads the way out of the bathroom. Sam is a little way down the hallway, turned away from them, but turns towards them at the sound of the door opening.

"There you are." He hurries towards them. "Fire department is on their way. What the hell happened?"

"Room of lasers," Deeks says. "And then boom."

Sam shoots him a questioning look.

"He hit his head," Kensi speaks up. She takes over explaining the situation to Sam. "He hit his head when we landed outside the room."

"And my back," Deeks adds. "Pretty sure I'm going to have a Beretta shaped bruise on the small of my back seeing as I landed on my gun."

If he wasn't sure he was mildly concussed, Deeks would swear he caught Sam cracking a smile.

"You're both okay?" Sam asks.

Deeks nods along with his wife.

"Good. Let's head down. Eric called paramedics as well. You both need to be checked out."

00

It's three hours later when they finally make it home.

The house is quiet and inviting when they walk in the door together. They had driven home together in the same car for the first time. Unfortunately, Deeks's head hurt so much he couldn't even enjoy it.

The paramedics had confirmed he had a minor concussion. Without Callen or Sam in earshot he had confirmed he had someone at home to monitor him in case he got worse, so the paramedics cleared him.

They cleared Kensi, too. She was determined to be dehydrated but otherwise okay.

Once back at the Mission, Hetty had declared Deeks unfit to drive and had suggested in front of everyone that Kensi drive him home.

They were halfway home before Deeks realized Hetty had been helping them keep their cover.

Now that they're home, he could care less about keeping secrets. All he wants is to curl up in bed with his wife.

Monty greets them at the door, wagging his tail in excitement that his people are home. Deeks sighs at the reminder that there are things he needs to do before they lay down.

He lets the dog out into the backyard and then checks to make sure he has sufficient food and water.

Kensi makes her way to the fridge and pulls out two bottles of water. "Here," she says, holding one bottle out to him.

"Thanks," he takes a sip and then pulls a bottle of Advil from the cabinet. He swallows two and then holds the bottle out to her.

"I'm good," she tells him.

"That's right; I broke your fall."

She manages a smile, but it quickly falls flat.

"Hey," he calls to her. "We're okay."

Her voice is just a little raspy when she responds. "I know. That was just really close."

He steps forward into her space and wraps his arms around her. "Too close," he agrees. He loves this woman in his arms more than anything and can't begin to imagine his life without her.

"You don't get to die for me, okay?"

He holds her a little tighter. "Well, you don't get to die and leave me alone."

She huffs against him, and he cracks a smile. She may be exhausted after today, but she's still able to hold onto a hint of her normal stubbornness.

"Don't tell me you wouldn't have done exactly the same thing for me," he adds.

"Yeah..." She murmurs.

He presses a kiss to her head. "We fight together, Kens."

"Together," she confirms.

He runs his hand up and down her back. "You must be exhausted."

She sniffs against him. "I am."

"Do you want anything to eat?"

"No. I just want to have a shower and go to bed."

"Okay." He presses a kiss to her forehead. "Go get started. I'll get Monty in, lock up and meet you upstairs."

She tugs him down to her level and kisses him before stepping out of his arms.

Deeks watches her go and then moves to check that they had locked the front door. He moves back through the house and calls Monty in from the backyard. He closes and locks the backdoor. He picks up his water bottle from the kitchen as he makes his way towards the stairs and then heads up to the bedroom.

Kensi is stepping out of the shower when he makes it to the bathroom.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah. I needed to feel clean. Now I really need to sleep."

"Hmm, me, too. Stressful day." He's spent most of the day on an adrenaline surge, frantic to locate his wife. But he's long since come down and crashed. Adding to that the headache and overall soreness, and he's right there with her wanting to sleep.

"I will meet you in bed momentarily."

He strips down and jumps in the shower. He hears the rumble of Kensi's hair dryer as he lets the warm water wash him clean of this horrible day.

When he steps out of the shower, his wife is gone from the bathroom. He brushes his teeth and towel dries his hair as much as possible.

He turns off the light and steps out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Kensi is propped up in the bed, the blankets pulled up to her chest. He can just recognize his own tee shirt draped across her shoulders above the blanket.

He drops his towel, not caring if it lays on the floor overnight tonight and pulls on a pair of boxers.

When he finally slips into bed, Kensi shifts down beside him and pulls close. He wraps his arms around her and finally breathes in relief at the familiar feeling of her soft form resting against him under the warmth of their covers.

"I know I've said it a lot already today, but I really love you," he tells her.

"I love you, too, Marty," she whispers back. "So much."

He breathes in and then out, letting his eyes close. From the way she's breathing against him, he knows she's already drifting off. "Sleep," he whispers. "Tomorrow will be a better day."

"All good days with you," she murmurs.

He not entirely certain if she's completely coherent, but he still smiles. "Today could have been better."

"I knew you'd come for me," she whispers, proving that she is still conscious enough to be coherent.

"Always, Kens."

"Hmm..." She sighs as he body relaxes against him. "Lucky to have you."

He holds her tight and presses a kiss to her head. "I'm the lucky one. You've made my life better since the moment I met you."

00

The school gym left something to be desired.

It wasn't exactly well equipped. And while the women's change room was near the actual gym area, the men's change room was out by the lobby. It was also much too small to service the number of students attending the school who wanted to work out.

After more than one frustrating trip to the gym only to stand in line longer waiting for equipment than time spent actually using the equipment, most of Deeks's buddies had given up and signed up for private gyms off campus.

Not one with any money to spare, Deeks had simply started going at early hours when it wasn't as busy. He could work out without fighting over equipment and without interfering with his school, work or party time.

It was early in his fourth year when he made his way to the gym before sunrise for a workout. He entered the familiar small men's change room and exchanged his jeans and sweater for his workout clothes: a white shirt, red shorts and black socks.

He yawned and was somewhat regretting his choice to drag himself out of bed as he made his way out of the change room and headed across the lobby. He turned the corner and pretty much collided with someone else.

"Sorry!" He said quickly, stepping back.

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going..." The young women he ran into trailed off as she met his eyes.

Deeks swallowed hard as he felt a shock of something unfamiliar when their eyes met. He stared for a long moment before shaking his head and offering her a smile.

"Haven't seen you here before."

She offered him a hesitant smile back. She was wearing a bag across her shoulder and her hands moved to clutch at the strap. "Well, I haven't seen you here, either," she shot back at him. There was no bite to her tone, but there was fire in her eyes.

His smile widened and he nodded in appreciation.

Her smile widened, too. "I like working out early," she told him. "It's not busy now."

He nodded. "That is the only reason I'm here this early. I'm not exactly a morning person."

She shrugged. "I like getting a start on my day." He could tell that she was trying to act nonchalant, but this was actually something important to her. He wouldn't have been surprised if she was at the gym every day. She was young and slim, but he could tell that she was strong and fit, even through her jeans and black tank top. She wasn't like the skinny girls he knew who didn't eat much of anything.

"Cardio or weights?"

"Both," she said easily, though her tone made him believe she did more than that. Her posture was straight and even, and her eyes held a sense of self assuredness and confidence that he found himself drawn to. She was young, yes, but in age only.

"What are you studying?" He asked.

Her eyes - which he was pretty sure were mismatched - flashed slightly and she ducked her head. Her long, wavy hair hid her face for a moment. Then she met his gaze again, her eyes fierce and protective. "You know, general courses and stuff."

It was a clear brush off.

He tried again. "You new to California?"

She bristled, but kept his gaze this time. "Not...not exactly."

"Used to live here, or...?" He kept his question open ended.

Her grip on her bag strap tightened. "Something like that."

She was tense and clearly not interested in talking about herself. He was suddenly afraid she was going to leave. He needed to find a way to keep her there.

"Well, I grew up here," he offered, hoping that by telling her something about himself he would put her at ease.

She appeared somewhat more at ease, but he wasn't sure if that was just because he wasn't asking her questions about herself. In fact, he was pretty sure that was exactly the reason. Time for another tactic.

He motioned to his head. "But you could probably tell that from the surfer hair."

She cracked a smile and he felt a well of relief. "I wasn't going to presume," she attempted a joke.

"Oh, presume away," he said. "It's pretty much mandatory, whether you surf or not. Especially if you're blond."

She hesitated before asking, "What's mandatory? The length or the shagginess?"

He almost laughed out loud, impressed with her. "Both. And I'll have you know this is shaggy-chic."

She did laugh. "Shaggy-chic?" She echoed. Then she scrunched her nose, which he found absolutely adorable.

He nodded emphatically, playing it up for her. "Basically I don't own a hairbrush. And I have a tendency to shower at night and go to bed with my hair wet."

"So, more like 'pillow messy chic.'"

It was his turn to make a face. "Nah, messy and chic do not go together."

She raised an eyebrow. "But shaggy and chic do?"

"Oh, touché."

She smirked and then said, "How about pillow-styled?"

He pursed his lips for a moment before his eyes lit up. "Style by pillow."

She nodded. "That sounds good."

He got caught up staring into her eyes for a long moment. One eye was definitely darker than the other, which only served to make her even more beautiful. He wanted to ask her about it, but she finally seemed comfortable, so he didn't want to set her off again. He ran his left hand through his hair and then held his right out to her. "I'm Marty."

She hesitated for only a moment before reaching for his hand. "Kensi."

"Kensi," he echoed, testing her name.

She bit down onto her lip, but kept contact with his eyes. He lost himself again staring into her gaze. It was only when she shifted her hand slightly in his that he realized he was still holding it.

"It's really nice to meet you, Kensi," he said.

She returned her hand to the strap of her bag, but smiled softly. "It's nice to meet you, too, Marty."

AN: I hope both the 'current time' and flashback live up to expectation. For those who track these things, the flashback in chapter 33 falls directly after this, and then leads into the flashback chapter of 23.

Also, this was always going to be how they first met in this story. In Neighbourhood Watch (3.22), when Deeks remembers/announces what Kensi was wearing when they first met, he was actually wrong considering their first meeting on the show. I thought this was the perfect way to 'fix' that error.