"I met that boss of yours, last night."
Deeks dropped the knife he was using to chop vegetables and stared at his mother.
"What?"
"Oh, close your mouth, Martin," Roberta scolded as she wiped her hands on a tea towel.
"Which one?" he asked urgently.
He wasn't entirely sure which of Hetty or Granger he'd prefer his mother to talk to but he needed to know what type of damage control he needed to perform.
"The short woman with the glasses and suit."
"You were with Hetty?" Deeks said dazedly.
There weren't many other women who fit that description, was there?
"That's what I said, wasn't it?"
Deeks rolled his eyes in exasperation. Why did his mother have to be such a smart-ass?
"How on earth did you meet Hetty?" he decided to ask.
That was a safe enough question and he was curious, truth be told.
Roberta shrugged at her son and reached for the bag of fries.
"She appeared when I was visiting Kensi last night, she answered, pouring the fries into a tray. "Like, literally appeared. I never even heard her come in until she spoke."
Trying to smother a grin, Deeks told her, "She tends to do that."
"Creepy."
"It's what makes her good at her job, momma," Deeks tried to explain then noticed that his mother was about to put the fries in the oven. "Wait!"
"Still creepy," Roberta informed him. "And what?"
"You can't put the fries in like that!"
Roberta looked down at the tray of fries and then back at her son with a raised eyebrow.
"And why not?"
"They're all over the place! They're not going to cook evenly," Deeks complained.
"Oh, for heaven's sake-"
"Just shuffle them 'til they're all lying flat," Deeks pleaded, eyeing the tray worriedly.
"Seriously, Martin?"
"They cook better," he insisted.
"I never heard you complaining about my fries growing up," Roberta said mulishly but acquiesced to her son's pout and shook the tray.
The fries were now mostly lying flat. Deeks tried to fix the ones that weren't but Roberta smacked his fingers away. He pouted at her. She ignored him.
A brief squabble later, finally the fries went into the oven. Mostly lying in one layer.
"What we're we talking about again?" Deeks asked, scratching the back of his head.
"I was saying how creepy your boss was," said Roberta.
"Oh yeah. Well, she is that," Deeks agreed
Roberta gave him an incredulous look.
"What?" he asked.
"No defence?"
Deeks shrugged.
"Hetty is creepy, everyone knows that," he explained dismissively. "Brilliant and terrifying but creepy."
"Hmm," was Roberta's response.
Now Deeks was really curious. What on earth had Hetty and his mother got up to? He just couldn't imagine them together. They were polar opposites, chalk and cheese. The only similarity they had was how protective they were and Deeks put that down to their innate momma bear instincts. Which were frighteningly effective.
Now Roberta shrugged.
"Not much. She's not much of a talker, is she?"
Deeks snorted. Everyone was basically mute compared to his mother. Roberta glared at him, hands on hips. He shot her his charming smile. It sort of worked. She gave him an eye roll of her own.
"How much talking did you do?" Deeks asked, honestly curious.
Hey, it wasn't like he was going to get answers from Hetty.
Roberta frowned as she thought about it then shrugged.
"I'm not entirely sure. Nothing much. Mainly about you and Kensi."
"Is that grown-up code for 'of course we talked loads but you're just a child and I'm not going to tell you' or seriously nothing much?" Deeks questioned.
Roberta smiled enigmatically at him, or tried to but she snorted at herself.
"Man, I feel like I'm back at school waiting for you to come back from a parent-teacher conference," Deeks complained.
"Surprisingly, she said similar things to your teachers," Roberta informed him.
"Oh?" Deeks raised an eyebrow.
That was hopefully a good thing. Not that anyone would believe him bit he actually didn't get into much, if any, trouble in school. Well, no detectable trouble. He worked too hard and was far too charming.
"Yep, her words were 'Works hard but plays the fool'," his mother elaborated then she frowned. "And something about lowering the hygiene. Martin, you do shower regularly, don't you?"
"Yes, momma," Deeks answered huffily, receiving a warning glare for his troubles. "It's just a joke of ours."
"Hmm," she said, disbelievingly.
"It's because I have the stereotypical 'surfer dude' look going for me," he tried to explain.
Roberta opened her mouth to answer but the timer went off for the oven. Mother and son looked at each other before both diving for the oven, both wanting control of the food. Deeks actually won this time and he pulled the fries out and let the chicken rest on the counter.
"That needs to cool before we can slice it," he admonished, snatching the knives away from her. "Or it will be a mess."
Roberta stepped back at let her son fuss around the food and watched him carefully. He had been using food to distract himself from Kensi. Thankfully, he'd gotten past the point of having a breakdown over grilled cheese. Kensi was far better now (and more specifically conscious) so his control issues were waning. She definitely didn't bring any of those points up, he'd just get defensive like he had the last time and that was no good for anyone.
Watching him now, humming as he dished everything up and slowly sliced the chicken, taking pleasure in life again, warmed her very. It meant he had a far more positive outlook about life now. Which was fantastic, Roberta had her son back, Kensi was making her way back to herself every day and the future looked bright. She didn't say that either because she'd just get a sarcastic or pessimistic response in return. Honestly, that boy of hers could be such a drama queen.
He had played everything up, saving a portion to bring to Kensi and they were both sitting down before Roberta decided to actually say something.
"Why are you so interested in what we spoke about anyway?" Roberta asked through a mouthful of the 'heavenly chicken'.
"Because I have concerns."
