A/N: Thanks to everyone for your continued support. If I haven't replied to your comments yet, I will try to this week.

This continues to be as self-indulgent as you could possibly imagine.

"What are you working on?" Kensi asked, leaning over Deeks' shoulder. It was her third day of protection duty and her second shift at the strip club. Although Deeks wasn't as chatty as she first thought, he was unusually quiet and focused today. The most she'd heard out of him was an occasional greeting to another dancer.

"LSAT practice," he answered after a moment, flashing a thick book just long enough for her to make out "The Official LSAT Handbook".

"Already? I thought you had a year of classes left."

"Never too early to start." Deeks flashed her a brief smile, barely turning from his book and notes. Leaning closer, Kensi read through the question at the top of the page. It vaguely reminded her of a reading passage from the SAT only more confusing and with legal jargon.

"Is this what all the questions are like?" Kensi said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Deeks just nodded. "I was expecting something more–"

"Like Legally Blonde?" he guessed, his smirk more genuine this time. "Yeah, everyone does." Pushing back from the small table he'd scavenged, he stretched, brushed his bangs back, and then shook his head so they fell back in their original place. "Law school and the LSAT are all about teaching you to reason and argue logically and analytically. Sure, you learn about the elements of law as well, but it's not just defining a bunch of Latin terms and giving long monologues."

Deeks couldn't quite contain a giant yawn as he said the last few words. He looked completely exhausted Kensi realized. Which made sense given the ridiculous hours he kept. Eyeing the lines of exhaustion around his mouth and eyes and the dark shadows he'd tried to cover up with concealer, Kensi felt a pang of concern for him.

According to Sam and Callen, during their daytime shifts he'd attended four classes, a study session, and met with an outreach group for single mothers. Sam's main comment was that Deeks rarely stopped talking unless he was with other people. Callen seemed almost impressed and mentioned something about being glad Deeks wasn't a criminal.

Kensi's takeaway was that he was running himself thin. It worried her more than she wanted to think about.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

Deeks shrugged and tossed her the book.

"You could read the questions. It feels like my eyes are about to fall out."

Figuring that he must really be tired to admit such a thing to her, Kensi turned the book over, hiding a little smile. She flipped through the pages until she found the section he'd been working on, cleared her through and started reading.

A couple questions later, a female dancer walked in wearing a sparkly blue mesh dress with a bikini underneath.

"Hey Marty," she said, leaning over to give him a hug. Kensi had noticed that the majority of the women who worked at Honey's seemed very familiar with Deeks. In some cases, a little too familiar. She turned to Kensi and waved three fingers. "Hi, I'm Amber, by the way."

"Kensi. Nice to meet you."

"Rose told me Marty was dating someone new." Amber glanced at Deeks fondly and added, "You're a lucky girl, Kensi. He's a real sweetie."

"See, you're lucky to have me," Deeks repeated, tipping his head up to Kensi with a massive grin.

"Uh–huh." Impulsively, Kensi brushed a stray curl of hair of his cheek. He froze for the briefest moment before he recovered himself. His eyes flashed with mischief and he grabbed her hand, pressing it to his mouth for a second. The spot where his lips touched tingled and Kensi felt her entire face flush with heat as he stared into her eyes, something darker glinting in them now.

"You two are so cute," Amber observed, patting his shoulder fondly. Kensi pulled her gaze away from Deeks and he cleared his throat loudly, seeming just as uncomfortable as she felt. Avoiding looking at him now, Kensi handed him the book. A few more dancers came in and started getting ready, chatting with Deeks and Amber.

"You should switch to dancing," a woman named Destiny told Kensi. "You'll get way better tips than you do serving."

"Oh, I don't think I'd be very good," Kensi deferred, narrowing her eyes in warning at Deeks when she saw him unsuccessfully try to conceal his laughter.

"Are you kidding me? With those legs, girl, you don't even need to have good rhythm," Amber said. "Marty certainly didn't when he started out. But he gets by because he's got a nice smile and those abs." She patted Deeks' chest as she turned to leave.

"Do I need to worry about her?" Kensi asked with mock jealousy.

"No, Sugarbear, I only have eyes for you," he drawled, grabbing her hand again and kissing it very deliberately. This time Kensi was better prepared and didn't react at all.

"Oh, no. You are not calling me that." Ignoring her warning, Deeks started packing up his books, that teasing smirk back in place. "Deeks…"

"What about Sweetie pie?"

"I will kill you."

"That's no way to talk to your boyfriend." He winked at her, avoiding her attempt to smack him, and ducked into a changing room, adding before he shut the door, "Kensalina."

Kensi's shift started in a couple minutes, so she didn't have time wait for him to come out, but she silently promised to pay him back in some way for the nicknames.

"What was that?" Nell demanded over comms, reminding Kensi that they weren't really alone.

"Just Deeks being his usual annoying self," Kensi said, keeping her voice low even though no one was paying her any attention.

"Excuse me? You two were totally flirting!"

"Nell, this is not the time to have this conversation."

"Fine, then we'll talk when you get to work tomorrow," Nell agreed happily.

"Damn you, Nell Jones!" Kensi hissed under her breath. She grabbed her serving tray and headed to take the orders of a table of three.

It was busier than the first night she'd worked, which meant she had to focus more on getting orders right and dealing with patrons. It also kept her attention off Deeks' routines, a blessing in disguise as far as Kensi was concerned.

While he was backstage, Deeks kept her entertained with frequent updates on his status. Despite her attempts to stay annoyed with him, Kensi found herself fighting back laughter at some of his comments. If he hadn't chosen law, he would have made an excellent comedienne Kensi thought.

About two hours later, Kensi was sweaty, smelled like several different kinds of alcohol, and had been hit on by a handful of men and women. It reminded her why she'd switched from waitressing to working as a cashier at an athletics store in college. As good as Kensi was at concealing and controlling her emotions when needed, she was starting to lose her patience with the drunken clientele.

"Kensi," Deeks said suddenly, his voice urgent and no longer flippant. "I think I just saw your suspect."

"Ok, Deeks. I'll check her out."

"There's not time. She's headed for the back exit." She searched the floor for him and found him cutting between tables, and away from her.

"Deeks, wait for me," Kensi told him firmly, leaving her tray on a random table. "You can't go after her. It's too dangerous.

"I'll be careful," he promised.

"Deeks!" He didn't answer her, disappearing from sight completely. "Dammit, Deeks you better not get yourself killed."