Prompt: How about a story set in the early seasons when Deeks and Sam still didn't always see eye to eye and Sam treated Deeks like dirt. Can you write a story where Deeks finally has had enough and demands respect or at the very least decency otherwise he'll leave the team.

A/N: As requested, this takes place on the first few seasons. I often forget, but when you go back to the early days, everyone, including Sam say some unnecessarily unkind things to him.

"I don't trust him," Deeks said, leaning against the table in the boat shed as he eyed the monitor in front of him. They were waiting for Callen and Kensi to come back from questioning some witnesses.

"He's a marine, Deeks," Sam said, like that somehow absolved him of any potential guilt. He'd been irritable with Deeks all morning.

"Last I checked, marines are still capable of committing crimes. I mean, we wouldn't have much work if they didn't." He tried to joke, to lighten the mood that had been slowly going downhill since Jared Hornyak had become a potential suspect. Deeks didn't like it either, but like he'd said, it wasn't unusual.

"He has a good record. Besides, you wouldn't understand." There was something definitely condescending in Sam's tone, dismissive of Deeks' input. He knew he should really just ignore it. Sam got riled up when he felt someone violated his very stringent, personal code of ethics. Particularly when that person happened to be a member of the armed forces. They were just lucky it wasn't a SEAL.

"Why, because I'm a cop?" Deeks asked, knowing he should just let it go. Nothing good ever came from challenging angry people. But he was a little ticked off himself. "You know I've dealt with this kind of thing before. Anybody can break the law, anybody can be a bad guy. Even a U.S. Navy Marine. Just because this guy looks all bright and shiny on the surface, doesn't mean he's–"

"Shut up, Deeks," Sam said, cutting him short. Deeks looked at him incredulously.

"Excuse me?" Sam shook his head, his gaze flicking over to Deeks.

"For once in your life just stop talking. I don't want or need your opinion." Before Deeks could think of a response, Callen and Kensi walked in.

"Well, that was a waste of time," Kensi said told them. "Jared's buddies didn't–is everything ok?" Her eyes darted between Sam and Deeks obviously picking up on the tension in the room. Deeks, crossed his arms, adopting a falsely relaxed position against the table, waiting to see what Sam would say.

"Yeah, everything's fine. What about his teammates?" Kensi's eyes drifted over to Deeks as Callen took over summarizing what they'd learned from Jared Hornyak's fellow marines. She tried to catch his eye, but Deeks just shook his head.

"There was something a little fishy about their stories," Callen was saying.

"Like what?" Sam asked, frowning as he glanced at the monitor. His whole demeanor had changed: from blatantly antagonistic to accepting.

"Too rehearsed, like they'd talked about it and agreed on a similar story." Sam sighed, uncrossing his arms and accepting Callen's judgment at face value. Deeks pressed his lips together, biting back a nasty comment.

"Ok, let's see what Hornyak has to say." Sam and Callen walked down the short hallway to the interrogation room and appeared on the screen a moment later.

"Unbelievable," Deeks muttered under his breath. He'd thought Sam was finally starting to treat him like a functional, possibly valuable, member of the team. Clearly he had been very wrong. When he turned around, Kensi was staring at him, a worried look in her eyes. He had a feeling she'd been watching him closely than he realized.

"Are you ok?" she asked again, going so far as to touch his arm. He gave her a weak smile and replied,

"I'm fine, Partner."

"You look…angry. Did something happen while we were gone?"

"I'm not angry with you," he assured her, which didn't exactly answer her question. It was as much as he could say right now without going on a full-blown tirade.

"Deeks–"

"You know, I think I'm going to take a half day. I'm not feeling great right now." He saw Kensi's eyes widen and she reached out to him again. Her hand was warm and firm on his arm, sending a confusing shiver across his skin.

"Hey, whatever's going on, you know you can talk to me about it, right?" She asked, tucking her fingers into her back pockets and smiling a little shyly. "I mean, what are partners for if you can't unload on them?

"I know," Deeks assured her, brushing her arm as he headed for the door. "And I appreciate. But right now I think it's best if I'm not here right now."

Half an hour later of interrogation, Sam and Callen emerged, looking frustrated. Hornyak had proved uncooperative.

"Where's Deeks," Callen asked, glancing around the boat shed, like Deeks might be hiding behind a boat and suddenly appear.

"He went home," Kensi informed them, biting down on her lip. She turned to Sam with a frown. "Did something happen between you two? Deeks seemed upset about something."

Sam rolled his eyes and made a perturbed sound.

"I think I know what's going on. Although I'm surprised he'd overreact like this," Sam replied. "Then again, it's Deeks, so I guess I should expect the melodrama."

"What does that mean," Kensi asked, sounding a little defensive. Deeks wasn't there to defend himself, so it fell to her as his partner.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go talk to Deeks when we get done here."

"No, I don't want any–oh it's you," Deeks said, surprised to Sam standing on his doorstep.

"Who did you think I was?" Sam asked, glancing around him.

"High schoolers have been pestering me to buy magazines, chocolate, and cookie dough all night," Deeks explained. "And before you can ask, yeah, I know it's bad trade craft to not check before I opened the door." Sam smirked at him mildly.

"Actually, I was just going to ask if I could come in."

"Would it matter if I said 'no'?" Deeks wondered, reclining against the door jamb with his ankles crossed.

"Not really," Sam said, walking past him. He looked around and Deeks realized it was the first time he'd been inside his apartment. "Huh, not what I expected. A lot neater.

"So did you just come to insult my homemaking skills, or can I look forward to further critiques?"

"I came to ask why you walked out today."

"I think you know why," Deeks told him, pausing for a moment to give Sam a pointed look. He allowed the silence to grow and thicken between them and Deeks felt a perverse pleasure when Sam twitched uncomfortably.

"If this is about what happened in the boat shed…"

"You mean, when you told me to shut up after implying that I have poor judgment, then no. No, that is not the reason why I walked out today. Or at least not the sole reason." Sam made a noise again, the one that he made when he thought Deeks was being particularly ridiculous.

"What are you talking about, Deeks?" he said.

"Ever since I joined the team, you've insulted me and disregarded my input. At first I accepted it as just your normal hazing, but it's been two years man," he said, shaking his head as he put his thought together.

"You're telling me you can't put up with a little teasing? I thought you had a thicker skin than that, Deeks."

"It isn't just teasing, Sam. It's the lack of respect." Deeks shrugged. "Today it just hit me that I'm not sure I can keep working in that environment."

"You're thinking of quitting?"

"No, I'm thinking of going back to LAPD as a detective."

"They treated you like crap there," Sam said, sounding angrier than Deeks had expected. He'd actually thought Sam would be in favor of his potential departure.

"And you don't?" Deeks challenged him. Sam had the good grace to look slightly ashamed. It was an odd look for the man. He pursed his lips, staring down at his shoes for a minute.

"Fine, I apologize." Deeks' eyebrows rose in surprise. "I shouldn't ride you so hard. I'll try to keep those comments to himself." Sam ended his apology by clapping Deeks' on the shoulder, his expression expectant. It wasn't the best apology he'd ever hear, but Deeks supposed it probably the best he would get.

"Really, you're going to be able to stop making jokes about my appearance?" Sam smirked at that.

"Hey, I might not get it right 100% of the time, but I'll try." Deeks didn't answer immediately so he added, "Plus, Hetty and Kensi will kill both of us if you leave."

"True," Deeks acknowledge. He sighed, wondering if he was about to make the right decision. "Fine, I'll stay. For now. But I was serious about what I said." Sam smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, apparently pleased with a good night's work.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, reaching for the door. "Oh, and Deeks, next time check the door before you open it. I could have been anyone." Deeks chuckled to himself as he shut the door behind Sam. Sam Hanna just couldn't help himself.

He wondered if Sam would actually stick to his side of their agreement, or if he'd just said what he needed to get the desired result. Either way, Deeks was a liaison for at least one more day.

A/N: I feel like this kind of fizzled at the end. Anyhoo, I tried to make this more possibly canon-compliant.