Kensi gets stronger as the week goes on. Out of danger. Her leg responds to the surgery, and while reduced mobility will be important for a few weeks, the leg is saved and full functionality is expected to return. Deeks visits every day. He comes and goes as others stop by, trying not to monopolize her time. He yields to her team when they visit, and as the week goes on they get friendlier, more accepting – like an extension of the family. Dave has clearly put in a good word, and maybe Kensi called them off attack mode.
She is sleeping when Sam comes to see her. They've had a couple of visits that have been cordial, but not close. Not like they were. He slips into her room after Deeks has left for the night and makes himself at home. It's the low comforting sound of his voice that brings her from her dreams. He's in the middle of telling her something when the words start to click in her head. She keeps her eyes closed and just listens.
"When I looked at him, all I saw was my failure to protect Dom. I held that against him. And he had his own way of doing things that was so different from us. I didn't think he was enough like us that he could have your back like we needed him to. So when I saw a chance to send him packing, I went along with it and hoped it would stick, or maybe the rift it made between you two would change Hetty's mind about the whole LAPD Liaison experiment." There's a pause and Kensi can almost hear the smirk in his voice. "You can stop pretending to be asleep now, by the way."
Her lips curl into a smile before she opens one eye just enough to make eye contact.
"Maybe him being different was good," she offers up before opening the other eye and looking at her friend.
"It wasn't good when his routines and lack of attention to OPSEC got him shot."
"Cops are supposed to become part of the fabric of the community. Dependable, predictable, visible. He wasn't going to flip the switch and become an agent all at once."
"Bottom line is I wanted Deeks gone. I wasn't trying to play you, but I used the play on you to see if we could shake Deeks back to the LAPD tree he fell out of."
"And now?"
"We've spent a lot of the last four months working with him more closely since you have proven to be irreplaceable, which is a surprise to no one. Maybe we are better with him." He looks pointedly at her. "Don't tell him I said so." Then he shakes his head and gets back to the reason for his visit. "But regardless of whether he was a fit or not a fit, I owed it to you to handle it better than I did, and I'm sorry."
She just nods, and though he's sure she heard the words, he's not sure he heard how much he means them.
"Kensi," he says, making sure he has her attention. "I'm sorry we lied to you. It wasn't about trust, it was expediency, and we were wrong."
This time she acknowledges his words, knowing that he needs to hear it. "Thank you."
With that out of the way the conversation turns to San Diego, where Sam has spent a fair amount of time. They talk restaurants and things to do and she asks about his family. It takes a few minutes, but by the time they are done it's like she never left, and while that should be a good thing, it's taking an emotional toll on her. She tells him she needs to get some sleep, and he takes it at face value. He gives her a fist bump and a smile, and says goodnight.
Her team is mostly back in San Diego, now, and she's surrounded by NCIS. She's losing perspective and second guessing every choice that brought her to where she is. She feels like she needs some space to get perspective – to really think about what she should do next. She talks to her doctors in the morning to get a sense of their plan for her so she can make some plans of her own.
The next day Deeks comes back to the medical facility. With his status as her emergency contact the medical staff has been keeping him up to date on her condition. Eightball made the drive up on his day off to check in with her, and while she was visiting with him, Kensi's doctors talk to Deeks about her status, letting him know that they are close to discharging her and what kind of assistance she may need. They find a quiet moment alone in the afternoon and he decides to broach the subject.
"So it sounds like they are getting tired of you around here and might be getting ready to cut you lose."
"Imagine that. I'm a bad patient. Who could have seen that coming?" she jokes.
"And it seems like you might need some help for a little bit after they spring you..."
"Probably," she says, her eyes wandering to the sleeve still immobilizing her leg.
"So … I'm thinking. Why don't you stay with me? Here. In LA." The look on her face tells him it was not a suggestion she was expecting. "Or, conversely, I could take some time off? Maybe come down and stay with you in San Diego and help out?"
She looks at him, choosing her words carefully, but her delay compels him to keep talking – just to fill the silence.
"It doesn't have to mean more than it means, Kensi. I just want to help and…."
"I'm not worried about what it means. Really. But I'm going back down to San Diego. I'm going to stay with Dave and Julie for a few weeks until I'm cleared to be on my own."
"Oh," he says. "Yeah, of course. That sounds great. That sounds like a great plan. That …."
"Deeks," she says to stop him. He looks at her and her fingertips dance a little on his hand until he takes her hand in his. "I appreciate the offer. It doesn't change anything. I just think it's the best first step for me."
He nods, making his face do things with his mouth as a way to not show any disappointment or doubt in her decisions. He wants to be supportive, but in his heart they'll always be partners, and now he thinks of them as together even if they haven't talked about it. She made these plans without talking to him, and it stings even if it shouldn't and it makes him wonder if they are on the same page.
"The schedule right now says that I'll be back in my own place in a couple of weeks. What are the chances that maybe you could come down that weekend and help me get settled back in my rental house down there?"
His eyebrows go up a little and his head tilts to the side. She's giving him an opening. An invitation. And he wants to take it, but he can't help sounding like classic Deeks when he does.
"I could be helpful, if appropriately incentivized."
"Well, I likely won't be able to go restaurant hopping, and might not be cleared for some other … preferred activities, but maybe we could do a lot of take out and watch a lot of movies and just hang out for a few days. I'll work on an incentive plan."
She smiles, both at the thought of getting to spend the weekend just relaxing with him, and also at how she might incentivize him in the future when she's up for it again. The smile hits him square in the heart, so beautiful and so Kensi. It brings a smile to his face as well.
"And there she is," he tells her, looking at her with wonder. "That smile is payment enough."
"So you'll come visit even if I can't play tour guide and fish tacos have to wait."
"Yeah," he says. "I'll make it work."
And two weeks later he does. He can't believe how strong she looks when he arrives. He comes to Dave's and the foursome has dinner together. When they've all eaten too much, Julie is happy to be off her feet and Kensi's leg can still be sore at the end of the day. The men clear the table and do the dishes while the women put their feet up.
"So why Pirate? I think there's a story there," Deeks asks Dave when Kensi is safely out of earshot.
"I shouldn't," Dave says, turning his attention back to the dishes.
"If you shouldn't then there's definitely a story there," Deeks deduces.
Dave plays it lowkey. "I could tell you all the acceptable answers," Dave says. "She hoards things like they're treasures. A dumb guy at sniper school thought Captain Bligh was Blye and that he was a pirate. She watched Pirates of the Caribbean way too many times. That when her hands are busy she puts her knife in her mouth and someone thought it was pirate-like."
"Are any of those the reason?"
"Hell no."
"Then give me something. Come 'on," he pleads, jokingly
Dave looks over Deeks shoulder and sees the coast is clear.
"Back in Sniper School – we were locked in for weeks, and the first half is really solitary – just you and the rifle. So when we get a long weekend we decided to all cut loose a little. It was around Halloween and Midas tells her we're going to a bar. She says she doesn't like the place, bet he tells her there are half priced drinks if you come in costume."
"Was it true?"
"No. No it was not." Deeks starts laughing and Dave keeps going. "She was the only girl in our group, and she meets up with us at the bar and we're all there in jeans and flannel shirts – real fashion plates. She walks in and the whole bar stops. Head to toe – the most epic pirate costume you've ever seen. And damn, man. Crazy hot. Leather pants sitting down on her hips and nothing left to the imagination. We spent the whole night playing bodyguard, beating guys off with sticks. It was supposed to be a joke we played on her, but she was so hot the joke was on us. We bought every drink to keep the other guys away. And for the rest of Sniper School and even sometimes now, every time wants us to buy she just says 'Yar!'"
Deeks is still laughing and maybe fantasizing about the pirate costume when Kensi pops her head in the kitchen.
"What are you two laughing about? I don't trust you," she declares, pointing at Dave.
"You shouldn't," Dave admits, unapologetically.
The two men feign innocent but as she leaves the room Deeks lets out a, "Yar!" making Kensi spin back to the kitchen, grab a dishtowel and snap it on both of them.
After dinner Deeks takes Kensi back to her place. Dave had already brought her stuff over that afternoon, so there's no hauling to do. He compliments the house. She shows him around the main floor not willing to take the stairs more than she has to.
"It's sterile and boring," she tells him. Two duffle bags don't fill a place like this. She's glad it's a corporate rental and has all the kitchen stuff and furniture she needs, but the lack of personal items definitely stops it from feeling like home. A lot of things stop San Diego from feeling like home.
"You host a lot of parties? Good space for Blue Team poker night," he jokes, trying to draw her out and learn a little about her life here.
She thinks about it. "Other than Dave and Julie, you may be the only person who's been here."
He likes knowing that even if he shouldn't.
"I'm here to work. It's still a job to me more than it is a life. I mean, sure – Dave and Julie are like family, but with the rest of the team – good guys, great guys, great skills, but it's still just a job. Eh," she says waving away her current train of thought. "Don't let me feel sorry for myself."
But Deeks is stuck on the thought of her being here and being alone. He doesn't want her here in San Diego away from him, but no matter where she is he doesn't want her closed off from people.
"Is it my fault?"
"Is what your fault?"
"Did the whole mess at NCIS before you left, is that why you keep it to the job?"
She exhales long and slow buying herself time while she decides what to say. Eventually she shrugs. "I make my own choices. I'm not blaming anyone else for where I am."
"I don't know how I didn't see how much it would hurt, what we did. I mean, I knew you'd be pissed, and a pissed Kensi is a formidable Kensi, for sure. I was bracing for impact though. I figured you'd come up swinging and kick my ass. I figured I'd be buying the coffee for a year, that beer would be on me until I had to get a second job to afford it. It never occurred to me that you'd be more hurt than angry, and that I wouldn't get a chance to tell you how sorry I was."
Her body relaxes in his words. He understands, and that's something. More than something, it's a lot.
"Kens, I'm so sorry. I'd do anything to have that day back. I'd risk Hetty's wrath and tell you from the beginning if I couldn't change her mind. I'd have sat on your desk and annoyed the hell out of you until I got you to just yell at me. I'd have talked about our thing. I'd have done anything to make it right."
Her eyes are glassy, but she fights back the tears.
"I think things are right, right now," she tells him, and she leans into a tentative, slow kiss that sets every nerve in her body on fire. Cursing her limited mobility, she resigns to making out on the couch as much as either of them can handle. She offers to help him ease his frustration, but ever the gentleman, that isn't what he's looking for. He just wants to hold her. Kiss her - to make up for lost time.
They spend the weekend cuddling and kissing, ordering take out and watching TV. When it's time for Deeks to leave on Sunday they are both fighting the urge to make it last longer.