Detective Martin Deeks made him raise his eyebrows before he was even on this team. While it was usual for other people to intrigue Nate but not like this. And it wasn't because he immediately found Deeks intriguing like he did, say, Callen, though Deeks was intriguing- don't get him wrong. No, at first it was because how the team reacted to him. That was not a normal reaction for them for people they were forced to pair up with.

Hell, it wasn't the normal reaction for colleagues either. It was more the reaction for close co-workers. Ones you definitely didn't want to lose. Didn't want to even consider losing. And they counted Detective Martin Deeks as one of those people.

They almost automatically considered him "Their cop". When he said those two words none of them had denied it. Not Kensi, not Sam and Not Callen. Even Eric had given him a weird look for saying that they didn't necessarily have to deal with Deeks' disappearance. What was it about him that inspired this kind of, well loyalty was the wrong word, protectiveness?

Not that he could sort that out when they were trying to help Deeks. Everything happened too fast. But even then, he didn't think much of the Detective. He was more interested in what this sort of response meant for the team. Those were the ones he was paid to make sure they were okay, after all. He had to know what triggered this type of response and how it would affect them and their work. How could one person trigger such a reaction? Such a protective reaction? And they barely even knew him? What did that mean.

Of course, he never really did get any answers because, well, the team weren't very good at providing them after all. And he dropped it because, really, what did it matter? It was a one off. It wouldn't be able to happen again, Deeks wasn't theirs. NCISs, he meant. Nate wouldn't be able to analyse the bond between him and the team again. So, he left it.

Until Deeks didn't leave them. Well, he did and then Hetty brought him back in that way of hers. He was suddenly a part of the team. Kensi's partner. Which made him very much on Nate's radar.

Again, it was first because of Kensi. Their firecracker. Their sort of loose cannon. Their abrasive, mistrustful one who was stubborn as hell (which was saying something for this team). How was having Deeks being around all the time and not being just theirs but hers as well going to affect her? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

At first, he had thought it was a bad thing. The two of them didn't seem to gel at all, they were just too different. He had almost told Hetty so too. But what was in the future be Kensi and Deeks' tried and true method, they blew that conclusion right out of the water. Somehow, they made it work? Work extremely well? Even though it most definitely shouldn't work that well. They literally rubbed each other up the wrong way but inexplicably that made them very close? How on earth did that work?

That was what made him interested in Deeks. Just Deeks. And anyway, if he was going to be in the team then Nate would have to look deeper into his psyche, right? That sounded better than just him being curious on what made Deeks tick because his behaviour was so odd. Odd to him at least.

Which was pretty impressive in the first place considering what Nate already had to deal with.

Another one who was very good at putting up walls, that's what Deeks was. He determined that very quickly. It seemed to be a theme for this team. Frustratingly so. He joked and teased in the same skilful way that Callen shut people down. Both methods kept people very much at arm's length without you necessarily realising it until you thought about it.

He did it with Kensi, he did it with Sam and Callen and he did it with Nate. Actually, Nate was pretty sure that Deeks only made a half-conscious effort at it. It was pretty much automatic for the shaggy-haired blonde to keep people at arm's length. And it seemed the only people who realised (or cared) was Nate and Kensi.

It was kind of funny because Kensi did the same thing but she couldn't stand it in Deeks and in her attempt to break down his walls she let hers fall too. It was fascinating to watch and kind of be a part of.

Nate knew it was a defensive mechanism on both their parts - to prevent them getting hurt. Of course, he knew the why (or some of the why) behind Kensi and knew when to push and when to give. He didn't know that about Deeks. He wanted to know that about Deeks. For the man to have that level of trust in him.

So, Nate was careful on how he evaluated Deeks. Made no sudden actions, tried to ensure that he didn't come across as tricking him. Deeks needed to be able to trust people, trust him. Know that Nate could be trusted.

And Nate found that he really wanted Deeks to trust him. Not just so Nate could keep the team running smoothly but for out of concern for Deeks himself. As weird as it sounded, Nate felt kind of protective of Deeks and his mental health.

Maybe it was because of how easy he deflected and how hard it was to get a read on him. For everyone else, for all of their deflection, it was actually kind of easy to understand the why behind their actions. Not so for Deeks. He kept himself at arm's length from himself.

He didn't seek Nate out like Kensi did or even open up a bit like Callen and Sam did when he started to pry.

Nate found he knew a lot about how Deeks ticked yet nothing about how Deeks ticked.

Yes. Deeks was a curious one.