The day hadn't started well for Martin Deeks. Hormone related mood swings had kicked in, big time, with Kensi. Much as he loved his wife, he really didn't like the harridan she had become this morning, snapping and sniping at every turn. An angry Kensi is a scary Kensi, and Deeks remembered how scared he felt as a small boy, when his father was in a rage. He knew Kensi was capable of hurting him far more than his father ever did. Yet this was different. This time he was a grown man who understood that he wasn't the cause of the rage, at least, not directly. He was fully aware that this shrew would be gone before long, and he would get his wife back, not that it made it any easier to deal with. Even worse was the sad, tearful Kensi she had been earlier. Not for the first time, a voice in the back of his head asked if becoming parents was worth all this distress.
Kensi drove them into work. Deeks kept his eyes shut, and held on tight. He figured if they could survive the ride in, they could survive anything. Nothing new at work and the task of the day seemed to be surveillance, gathering intelligence for the San Diego office, rather than chasing down the bad guys.
"Deeks, we need Artie, down by Union Station" Callen didn't bother with pleasantries. "Kensi, Fatima address in Chinatown, on your phones"
Deeks realised he was in trouble. He badly wanted to partner with Kensi, if she was struggling, but knew it would be a bad idea to say anything. He took a deep breath. "Couldn't Rowntree go with Fatima? I should be with Kensi today"
"Since when were you in charge, Deeks?" Callen wasn't amused.
"Rowntree is on a course, something you could think about" Sam wasn't amused either.
"Really Deeks, you need me to hold your hand?" Kensi definitely wasn't amused.
"I'll just go and get Artie" Deeks said softly, shrugging his shoulders in defeat as he walked away. He knew a argument he couldn't win, when he was in one.
He was thankful he hadn't taken Artie home, he was still in the fridge at work. Artie was the coat Deeks wore when he was undercover as a homeless guy. He remembered how Kensi thought it was weird to give a coat a name. Deeks began to smile as he changed into Artie, he filled the space inside Artie. Deeks began to feel he was Artie. Of all his undercover persona's, he was most comfortable as Artie, or in Artie. Deeks liked being Artie, once he got used to the smell. If he had known earlier they wanted Artie, he wouldn't have showered this morning. He had been Artie more often than any of the others, although he seldom stayed under for more than a few hours. Artie was a bit of a chameleon, he blended in and went unnoticed. Most of the time he didn't interact with people, but if he had to, people found him non threatening. There was more than one Artie, sometimes he was quiet, borderline mute, other times he wouldn't stop talking. Different situations called for a different Artie. Sometimes, just sometimes, not that he would admit it to anyone, Deeks just wore Artie. That's how it felt, like wearing comfy old clothes. As he changed Deeks found nostalgia creeping over him. Artie reminded Deeks of his Uncle Arthur.
Deeks never actually knew for sure if he was related and if he was, which side of the family he belonged to. As a child he called him Uncle and nobody corrected him. Arthur turned up every few months when Martin was quite young. He seldom stayed for more then two or three nights before disappearing again. Arthur was the first person to call him Marty, he liked that. His father always called him Martin and was usually angry with him. As a youngster Marty always assumed Arthur was related to his dad, they looked alike although Arthur was some bit older. His mother was cross with him sometimes, but never angry for no reason. His dad was sometimes okay but more often in a rage, especially after drinking, which was most days. Young Marty found it all bewildering. He liked it when Arthur was around, life became peaceful for a few days. Deeks smiled as he remembered the time Arthur turned up with a bunch of flowers for his mother, which they found out next day, came from a neighbours garden. Marty couldn't remember ever having a conversation with Uncle Arthur, and didn't really know much about him. All his mother told him was that Arthur was different before he joined the Army. Arthur wasn't as volatile as as Marty's father but he was erratic. Some days Arthur wouldn't speak at all, and sometimes he wouldn't stop. Marty knew his father was sometimes absent because he was in jail. It was never for very long so Marty didn't think he killed anybody. He never knew where Arthur went to when he disappeared. Just before his eleventh birthday, his father was becoming more aggressive and Marty realised he hadn't seen Uncle Arthur for a long time. He wished he would come back, but he never did.
Deeks shook himself out of his reverie and went to get his button cam fitted. Not for the first time, there was nobody able or willing to give him a lift to where he needed to go. So much for the protocol of working in pairs, obviously nobody thought he needed overwatch. However simple an op seemed to be Deeks was aware things could go wrong very quickly, and he would have to be on alert at all times. He got the bus part of the way and walked the rest. It irked that he was still treated as something of an outsider even though he wasn't a cop anymore. A major career change that nobody seemed to acknowledge. "Cut it out, just do your job. Don't pay attention to them" he said out loud to himself, he could, he was Artie. "What the..." A little boy ran in front of him chasing a ball into the road. Without thinking Artie grabbed the boy by his hoodie and swung him out of the path of an oncoming taxi. Unaware of the danger, thinking it was all a game, the little boy giggled as he ran back to his parents. Anxious to keep a low profile Artie kept his head down and did his best to disappear into the crowd. He was more than aware the parents might see what happened as attempted abduction rather than saving the child's life. Most people wouldn't take kindly to a homeless guy touching their child. Artie tried to be invisible, nobody seemed to be following him, he just kept going.
Twenty minutes later he was at the small park he had been told to go to. It wasn't much of a park, just a few seats and some trees. All he had to do was wait till the Person of Interest turned up and see who he spoke to. According to the San Diego office they were coming to LA by train. Artie thought it would be easier to tail him from San Diego, but what did he know? As far as he was concerned the whole operation was ridiculous, why did they need him as Artie? He was all set, earwig in, button cam working, all he had to do was sit and wait, and wait.
After what seemed like days but was only hours with nothing to see, Artie started to morph back back into Deeks. At some point when he was neither one nor the other, he felt something he hadn't felt before. He felt sorry for himself. Is this what I went to FLETC for? Why is it so difficult to have a child? Why did the team ignore the fact that that he was struggling after losing his job.? Why did nobody care he had to sell the bar, where else would they get free drinks? Why was he always treated as second best? His attention was caught by the coffee cup that had been empty by his side. He was aware people had been putting coins in it, but he was surprised it was almost full. After a quick count, he thought he had enough for a ticket to San Diego. For a moment he thought it would be easy to get from San Diego into Mexico then disappear for a while like Uncle Arthur.
There was a screwed up envelope tucked into the coins in the coffee cup. Inside the envelope was a small bundle of dollar bills and a note. Deeks read the note and his spirit soared 'You saved the kid. Good Job. You deserve more than a few bucks, if I can help you, call me' There was a business card in the envelope. Deeks was thrilled that a stranger appreciated what he had done and reached out to help. A small gesture that meant so much. He didn't care that it was Artie who was the hero or that Artie thought it was a trap. A stranger cared, somebody cared and that made Deeks very happy. He didn't care the team hadn't reached out or seemed to care about him. That was on them. He was good at his job and treated people right, that was all that mattered.
A voice in his ear told him the op had been called off. The guy had been shot. Deeks looked up to see a smiling Kensi walking towards him carrying a cup of coffee "Want a ride home...Partner? Deeks was Deeks again, a happy man. He had his wife back, what more could he want?