Deeks' desk phone rings and he fields a call from LAPD. Something went down in a house on the north side of LA and they say there are buckets of shell casings and a bunch of Navy uniforms and they don't know what to make of it. They want NCIS to take a look. He runs a finger over the plastic chimpanzee on his desk as has become his habit and heads up to Ops.
It's been four months since Kensi left, and he still has hope he'll hear from her soon. If he'd realized how undone she was by the events of that day he would have thought of something better to say. He cringes when he thinks about it, their last conversation when he told her he didn't think of her as a girl and the, "I don't know. You're Kensi." He shakes his head and looks at her old desk as he passes by. Empty. Again, not still. There have been two agents who've tried to call it home, but in the end neither of them stayed.
In Ops they walk through what they know. They listen to the 911 calls. The shootout was significant, and lots of neighbors called it in. They head to the crime scene and walk the house - it's shot to hell. There are four bodies, all armed. Heavily armed. All with keffiyehs that had been masks before the police unmasked them. There's an office or study off the main room, and there are a number of Navy enlisted uniforms in various sizes laid out in piles.
When they exit the house the LAPD has sharpened the perimeter. There is tape up keeping the neighbors further away. Deeks stands on the front steps and takes in the scene around him when a large black SUV arrives and draws his attention as it comes to a stop. It had to have shown some ID to get that close. A man, military build but in civilian clothes, big, armed, exits the vehicle from the back and goes to the front passenger side. He knocks on the window and it glides down.
He is animated, as though he is arguing. Not out of control. Disagreeing maybe. And then a hand reaches, fingers stretched wide. It settles over his face, gently shoving the man away, and he laughs, shaking his head in acceptance. Then he opens the door, and someone else exits the vehicle while all the other doors open.
Kensi.
She takes a few steps and then seems to realize that there are three men following her. She doesn't want them to. She stops and speaks to them, her hand up in a stop sign. After some discussion one very gallantly extends his hand towards the crime scene, and they all lean back against the SUV.
Deeks can literally feel it in his body the second she makes eye contact and knows he's there. She walks right to the edge of the police tape and stops, her eyes never leaving his. He slowly advances on her position, almost afraid she's a mirage. He doesn't speak until he's right in front of her.
"Hey, partner" he says. Maybe it's reflexive. Maybe it's denial. Maybe it's hopeful.
It curls one corner of her mouth just the slightest amount all the same. "Hey, Deeks."
She has some butterfly bandages on her forehead and cheek. There's something more significant on her hand. By the time he's taken it all in, Callen and Sam arrive. "Kens?" "Kensi?"
""Were you in there?" Callen asks.
"Hey. Yeah, if you run all the forensics you'll probably get a hit. Some of that blood is mine." Her hand absent-mindedly goes to the wound on her hand. "I swear the house was made of mirrors. I never saw so much glass fly."
"What happened in there?" Callen asked.
She breathes deeply. She measures her words. She knew it would be hard to see them, but her chest is feeling tight and she's fighting though it.
"There were two persons of interest in the house. We arrived to secure them during the night. We were going over the exit plan with them when four hostiles assaulted the location around 4:45 AM."
"Who is the 'we' in that sentence?" Sam asked. She keeps going and doesn't answer.
"The POIs were going to be moved to Naval Base San Diego in the morning. The uniforms were to help them blend in for the trip. I figured when you found the uniforms and the dead Al-Qaeda foot soldiers it would set off some alarm bells. I wanted to give you some info so it didn't escalate unnecessarily."
"And what is your role here, exactly," Callen asks.
"We got our two out and I came back to touch base." She looks over at her team's SUV, three large men leaning against the black Escalade making it clear that they have her back - not that her NCIS team could be intimidated. "We still have two more people to secure. We're going to regroup and figure out where we are."
"And that's all you're going to give us?" Callen sounds frustrated. Maybe hurt.
"That's the high level of what we know."
"You don't trust us?"
"I wasn't the one with trust issues." She closes her eyes and makes a fist. Then she exhales and tries to reset. She didn't want it to go this way. She pulls a piece of paper out of her back pocket and hands it to Callen. "We need a few hours to debrief and then we can talk more. These are names for two of the bodies in the house that have been identified so far. And an address. If you want more details we can talk at 1400. We should know more by then. Your call." She leaves but stops a few steps away. She looks back at them. "It's really great to see you guys." She hates how much she means it. She hates how much she still misses them every day.
Her eyes land on Deeks and she can't shake how it makes her heart hurt.
"You good?" he asks. He can't help himself.
"I'm good." She nods and heads to the Black SUV. Her team gets in and they drive away.
()()()()()(
The office that Kensi and her team are using as a base of operations is more space than this group needs. There's a large conference room where they are all gathered going over assignments, risks, and timing. It's their final review for the op that afternoon, and a first look at the target for tomorrow. Dave is in charge, but Kensi built this approach plan for tomorrow night, so she's going over it in detail with the team.
The target house is an Airbnb rental, and she's pretty sure the owners won't get it back in the condition they rented it. It's a terrible location. They're going to have to scale to the right entry points to make a simultaneous breach, but that's the best way to get the man they are looking for into custody and not a body bag. The trickiest part of the plan is getting to the structure while staying out of view for a half below ground/ half covered in bushes defensive position in the front with a 110 degree viewing angle in the front facing the west side.
It's like a little bunker.
Who puts a bunker in a residential front yard? She wonders if that's listed as a feature in the rental write up.
Kensi takes a suggestion from someone on Green Team and adjusts an assignment, but in the end, the plan stays mostly on track. They take a confidence vote, working through concerns until everyone is comfortable with the plan and their role. They are just wrapping up when Callen, Sam and Deeks are escorted to the conference room. People leave papers and maps strewn on the table partially covering the blueprint. Kensi's shadows from the morning, Dave, Jason and Tyson, stay with her, and they all escort the NCIS visitors to another conference room.
The men introduce themselves with Op names - Bandit, Eightball, and Midas. She thinks they do it to seem more menacing, although they are huge and built and don't need to. She gives them a disapproving look. And it's a waste of time, because Callen, Sam and Deeks aren't likely to be impressed or intimidated by a name. Kensi decides to just dive in, handle it like an interagency cooperation discussion.
"So did you guys have more questions?"
"Yeah, like maybe, who are you guys? Contract guns? We don't really understand your role." Callen tells her.
The men all reach to different places in their outfits and move their shields to somewhere visible. Kensi's is on a chain under her shirt, and she pulls it out.
"We are teams of operators deputized by the Attorney General," she tells them.
"To do what?" Deeks asks.
"Collect and protect, baby," Midas says with a little attitude, but Kensi knows that won't be enough.
"We collect foreign nationals indicted by the US to stand trial, and we protect people who assist in indictment and prosecution efforts as witnesses and informants."
"And your Persons of Interest from this morning?" Sam asks.
"Witnesses in an upcoming trial. They're safe."
"And there are more?"
"We have one more witness to secure today. The indictment is expected this afternoon, and then we'll go after the subject. Plan is to go tactical for that tomorrow night."
Kensi feels Dave tense. He didn't want to tell them anything, but Kensi said she wouldn't work that way, not in their backyard.
"Need any help?" Callen asks with a smile.
"Plan is solid," Dave says, and it's impossible not to hear a defensive edge to his voice.
"Approach is tricky," Kensi explains. "As soon as we have the target tomorrow secured we'll give NCIS the location and turn the scene over to you."
There's an awkward silence and Dave gets the picture. He slaps the rest of the team and points at the door, the three men leaving Kensi with her former team.
"You look good," Sam offers, trying to start a conversation. There's silence where there used to be banter and laughter and it hurts all of them a little.
"Thanks. You guys look great."
She asks about Nell and Eric, about Sam's family. She doesn't mention Hetty. It doesn't go unnoticed. They get a call from Ops that they're needed for a case, and they cut the conversation short. For Kensi it's both disappointing and a relief. The hole in her heart that she made when she left NCIS is aching, but the awkwardness of this encounter isn't helping.
She gives them the hugs goodbye she denied herself four months ago. Sam is jovial. Callen holds her a moment longer than his partner. Deeks comes in for his hug and he's charming and so 'him' it kills her. He wraps a hand around the back of her head and holds her close. He breathes in the scent of her, he hopes clandestinely. He's so lost in that thought he doesn't feel her slip something in his pocket.
She must have built up a resistance to him when they were partners because this is different. Having been away from him for so long it's all the more striking when he holds her, what the proximity does to her. She feels it in every nerve in her body. She pulls away and her hand lingers on his arm, her eyes roam over him.
The NCIS team leaves and she takes a minute to regroup. Then she has to gear up.
()()()()()
At the end of the day Deeks goes home. All day, he never shook the feeling of being near her again. He always knew that eventually they would cross paths again, but he couldn't tell you what he expected. He just knows that he wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to see her so ingrained in another team, so anchored in another mission and another life. He laughs at the irony that seeing her made him miss he more.
He decides to throw on sweats and heat up leftovers. He pulls off his shirt as he makes his way to his bedroom. He disarms and grabs his shield, placing them on the dresser. Then he grabs his wallet and his phone. He checks his pockets in his jeans one more time and is surprised to find a note card he didn't remember putting there. It says Deeks on the envelope in a handwriting that is messy and particular. He opens it up and reads.
Deeks,
It was really good to see you, today.
I hated how we left things. The how - that part is on me. I'll be at the bar at the InterContinental Hotel tonight until 11. I'd love to see you. No pressure. I understand if you don't want to. I hope you come by, though.
Kensi
Deeks checks his watch and grabs his shirt, throwing it back over his head. Then he picks up all the things he just discarded along with his keys and he's out the door.