Kensi and Deeks take care of a little boy who has more in common with one of them than they think.
Kensi turns her attention away from the pizza box and looks across the coffee table in amazement. "Woah, slow down."
He stiffens at her words as his green eyes full of turmoil look up from under his eyelashes. "I'm sorry."
"No, no. There's nothing to be sorry for. I just don't want you to get a belly ache so maybe slow down a little." The brunette smiles, reassuring the little boy even though her heart is breaking for him on the inside.
"Woah, man. You eat faster than Kensi." Deeks comes in from the kitchen and smirks as his partner sends him a glare.
The eight year old looks frightenly at the detective and then turns towards the brunette agent figuring she would be the easiest to ask. "Kensi?"
"Yeah?"
"Can-can I have more?"
"Of course you can!" As he takes a seat on the floor next to his wife, Deeks flips the lid of the pizza box open for the young boy to take a slice.
After Milo gets another slice, Deeks goes to grab his but before he can his partner's fingers find it and quickly brings it towards her mouth. "Baby, come on! You know that's my favorite piece!"
"You gotta be quicker than that when you marry the jungle cat."
Deeks brow pinches as he locks eyes with Kensi, challenging her. He looks at the slice in her hand that's more crust than topping and then back at her.
She sees the move before he even makes it and raises her hand in the air, keeping the slice of perfection away from him. What she wasn't counting on was him crawling on top of her and pinning her to the ground.
Deeks smiles as he closes in towards her. His face a just millimeters from hers. "You're gonna get it."
The boy looks up from his food in horror at the scene in front of him, fear already setting in. "STOP!"
The partners startle at the sudden outburst of the raven haired eight year old and quickly sit up. "Milo? Are you okay, buddy?"
"Please don't hit her."
Deeks shares a look with his wife before turning back to him. "What?"
"Don't hit her." His little voice quivers as tears begin to pool in his eyes.
Sitting back on his knees, Deeks takes hold of the raven haired boy's balled up fist, his cerulean blue filled with distress. "Hey, no. I would never hurt her or you or anyone for that matter. We were just playing around."
"That's what he said, but he kept doing it."
"Who?" Kensi's hand finds the boy's other balled up fist as she leans into her husband, comforting him as as well as herself. Knowing the answer already, she had to ask anyway.
"My dad."
"Was he hurting her this morning?" Deeks asks, thinking back to the crime scene earlier today.
"Yeah." The small boy nods.
She releases his small hand and runs her fingers through his hair, hoping to sooth him as much as possible. "Is that why you hid in the dryer?"
"I thought he would stop after it went off."
"After what went off?"
"The gun."
"What gun?"
"The one he keeps by the bed. I just wanted him to stop hurting her." The tears that were slowly falling from his eyes begin to pick up.
With his hand still clasped around Milo's, Deeks pulls him into his chest, trying to be that comforting place that he never had.
Tears slip from Kensi's chocolate orbs as she watches the now orphan boy wrap his arms around her husband's neck in a death grip.
"I wasn't brave enough." It's muffled by Deeks' shoulder but the defeated sound of his voice isn't lost on the husband and wife duo.
"What do you mean?" Kensi asks, her hand rubbing his back in hopes that it brings him some comfort.
"I should've done it sooner and maybe she'd still be here."
Deeks pries Milo's arms from around his neck, drawing the small boy back so that he can look him in the eyes and he can understand how much the words he's about to say are true. "Hey, you listen to me, Milo. You don't have to be afraid anymore, okay? Your mom knew you were trying to protect her. She knew that."
"How do you know?" The small boy's brow furrows in disbelief.
Kensi's hand finds his bicep and gives it a squeeze, letting him know that she's here for him.
The reassuring presence of his wife gives him the strength to answer the question about the subject he normally strays far away from. "Because my mom knew I was trying to protect her."
A/N: Part 2 Coming Soon