A/N: Once again, I don't remember where this idea originated. But it was inspired by another story where Sam was less than appreciative of Deeks. Takes place sometime in the last four seasons or so.
"G," Sam said as Callen walked in, Kensi and Deeks a few steps behind him. Straightening up from his desk, he gestured to the man standing beside him. "This is Ray Boyce, former Navy SEAL. Ray, this is my partner Callen."
The two men shook hands, Ray giving Callen a nod of respect. Ray was dark haired, tall and, impressively, even larger than Sam. Somehow, the term GI Joe instantly came to Deeks' mind.
"Were you on Sam's team?" Callen asked.
"Nah, a different one. But we worked together quite a bit," Ray told him. Kensi stepped forward expectantly, waiting for her own introduction and Deeks rolled his eyes, tossing his bag on his own desk.
"Oh, and these are my other teammates, Agent Kensi Blye and Detective Marty Deeks."
"Detective?" Ray said, smirking in a way that Deeks thought he recognized. He hoped he was wrong though. "You letting just anyone in these days Hanna?" He continued to smirk, like he'd said something particularly funny and Deeks sighed internally.
"Deeks is our liaison," Kensi told Ray, placing her hand on the middle of his back. He wasn't sure she even realized what she was doing, but he appreciated it. Along with the obvious pride in her voice.
"Huh, liaison," Ray repeated, his raised eyebrows telling his opinion better than any words could.
"Anyway," Sam said, redirecting the conversation. "Ray is going to help out on our current case. He has an in with one of the lower ranking members."
"Ok, we'll catch you up to speed," Callen said.
An hour later, Ray had all the pertinent details and they were planning how to breach the ring's headquarters, a defunct air conditioning warehouse.
"Alright, Kens, you'll be on over watch. Deeks, you'll provide a distraction as Artie, giving me, Sam and Ray cover to enter the building," Callen said as they looked over a digital blueprint of the warehouse.
"Hold on a minute, who's Artie?" Boyce asked.
"One of Deeks' undercover personas. He's homeless," Sam answered. Deeks held up a finger, getting a perverse sense of enjoyment at Ray's look of annoyance when he added,
"More accurately, Artie is a jacket."
"And to be even more accurate, the most foul smelling piece of clothing you will ever come in contact with," Kensi said, smirking at Deeks who put a hand over his heart.
"So hurtful. Artie has feelings too." Ray eyed them both with a frown.
"Actually, I think I'd be more comfortable if I took that role," he said, then added as an afterthought and without any sincerity, "No offense."
"He's good undercover, Ray," Sam said, a surprising note of censure in his voice. "One of the best around and he'll have no trouble blending right in or causing a commotion when the time comes."
"Well, nothing I've seen so far today supports that and I'd rather not have this operation screwed up," Ray said baldly and there was an almost immediate, tangible rise in tension. Kensi started to take a step forward, presumably to defend Deeks, but he put a staying hand on her arm and shook his head.
"Can I speak to you for a minute?" Sam asked, his body language suggesting it wasn't an actual request and more of a demand. "Alone." Ray looked like he might protest for a moment, but then apparently he couldn't withstand Sam's glare and ended up following him down the hall.
"Is it just me, or was that incredibly awkward?" Deeks asked no one in particular.
Sam led Ray into the burn room, his anger and frustration threatening to boil over, and slammed the door behind them.
"You wanna tell me what the hell you think you're doing?" he demanded.
"I expressed a concern about a teammate. Like you taught me to do," Ray explained calmly. "This is an important mission and Deeks…" he trailed off as though he didn't need to finish the thought.
"You've known Deeks for all of two hours. You don't know enough about him to make any decisions, let alone what part he should play in this case."
"I've seen enough." Sam sighed, knowing that Ray was exhibiting the same prejudice he had against Deeks for so many years.
"Look, I know Deeks is a little different, but underneath all that goofiness and floppy hair, he's good at what he does," Sam explained more gently. Shaking his head, Ray crossed his arms and said,
"I can't believe you or Hetty would let this guy on an elite team."
"He's a good man. You don't know what he's been through, what he's done for me and the rest of this team. And you don't need to. All you need to know is that we all trust Deeks with our lives, implicitly. I trust him." As Sam said it, he realized he meant every word.
"The Sam Hanna I remember wasn't soft. He wouldn't have put up with this crap," Ray said and Sam could tell he was deliberately trying to provoke a response from him. Sam smirked ironically, knowing that a few years ago, he would have taken the bait.
"Well, maybe that was a different Sam Hanna. Maybe I've changed, and for the better."
"Unbelievable," Ray muttered, the stubbornness Sam remembered from their SEAL days leaking through.
"Point is, no matter what you think or feel, Deeks is a part of this team and you are not in charge here. So either you accept that or you can sit this one out. The last thing we need is a team member who isn't completely on board."
Looking outraged, Ray leaned in towards him, using every ounce of his physicality to try and intimidate Sam. He didn't flinch or back down.
"Are you threatening to bench me?" Ray asked, his tone suggesting that it was the most ridiculous thought possible.
"If that's what's necessary. We need to know that your biases won't impact the team or this case negatively," Sam told him calmly. "The Ray Boyce I remember didn't let his personal feelings control him." That wasn't strictly true, but it didn't hurt to play to Ray's sense of integrity.
He muttered something else, malevolent but unintelligible, and then turned back to Sam with a determined expression.
"Fine. Deeks stays. Now let's get this damn case over with." Ray slammed the door open, stalking out. When Sam walked into the bullpen a minute later, he wasn't there. He glanced at Callen, who nodded in the direction of the gym.
"Ray said he needed to punch something," he explained and Sam nodded. After a moment of awkward silence, Deeks asked,
"So…am I getting Artie or not?" Sam smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, grab Artie." Deeks grinned then, hopping off the edge of his desk.
"Sweet! I fell in something last time that gave it a truly incredible…shall we say fragrance?" Kensi groaned as Deeks hurried off to grab the smelly coat.
"Oh my god. You are so not sitting next to me!" she shouted after him.
Sam smiled, shaking his head. Yeah, Deeks was different. But it was a good different.