A/N: This chapter is based off the second part of Bounty.
"I don't like him," Deeks said as Kensi finished questioning Jafar Khan. "He's smarmy."
"You're just saying that because he tried to give me his card," Kensi said. She'd actually seemed a little charmed by the guy and all his suggestive comments. Which didn't Deeks jealous at all. Not even a tiny bit.
"Would you like it if a woman gave me her card or tried to write her number on my hand?" Kensi's eyes narrowed at his question for a second and then her expression smoothed completely.
"I'd rip her arm off," she said dispassionately.
"Have I ever mentioned that you terrify me sometimes?" he asked, which earned a grin from Kensi. "I don't know whether to be turned on or scared."
"It's good to keep a man guessing." She touched his arm, slipping her phone from her pocket. "I'm gonna call Hetty. Can you update Sam and Callen?"
He nodded, stepping a few feet away.
Khan had turned out to be a wealth of information, along with being a highly skilled and rich foreign operative. He'd revealed to Kensi that he and Booth were long-time friends, related through marriage, and that they had worked on several operations together.
Shortly before being kidnapped, Booth had called Khan with information about the Taliban's master bomb maker. Now they were on the clock to find Thomas Booth's killers before they utilized his intel.
"Hey, Callen said a couple of Afghani guys opened fire while they were at the diner with Brandon." Deeks told Kensi once they had both hung up. "They don't know where Brandon is, but they were able to contact one of the men involved in Booth's death."
"That's what Hetty said," Kensi said as they started walking again. "She wants us to find Brandon and see if we can get any more information out of him. And make sure no one tries to kill him again."
"You know, this kid isn't going to tell us anything more than he told Sam and Callen," Deeks said to Kensi as they waited for Brandon outside a gas station. Their main priority was to keep him safe, but if he happened to reveal pertinent information, it wouldn't hurt. "He doesn't trust us, he's angry with his dad."
Kensi crossed her arms as she scanned for Brandon again. Eric had said he'd be heading in their direction any minute.
"That may be true, but we don't have any choice. We're here to protect him," she said with a shrug.
"What if I told you I had an idea?" It had been rolling around in his mind since they found out about the Booths' less than stellar relationship.
"I'd say I need more information."
"Or maybe you could just follow my lead," he suggested.
"Fine, but just don't get too crazy, ok?" He nodded his assent and then said,
"Here he comes."
"Brandon Booth?" Kensi asked, stepping out from her hiding spot and holding up her ID. He barely glanced at it.
"Are you here to ask about my dad too?" he asked. "Because last time someone asked me about him, I almost got killed."
"We're just here to make sure you're safe, all right? You don't have to talk about your dad if you don't want to." Deeks assured him. "God knows I'm not talking about mine. Kensi, you feel like talking about your dad at all?"
"Not a chance," she said immediately.
"See, we're all on the same page." Brandon didn't look all that convinced, but he gestured in front of him and grudgingly said,
"I live a few blocks away."
"Ok, we'll give you a ride," Kensi said and it wasn't a suggestion.
"So Van Nuys High, huh?" Deeks asked.
"You either ran a search on me, or that was a lucky guess," Brandon said. Deeks chuckled. He appreciated the kid's honesty. Kensi walked a few feet ahead of them, giving them space. If she was surprised by Deeks' knowledge of Brandon's life, she didn't show it.
"Oh, come on, man. It's obvious. You're not the only person who grew up in Los Angeles," Deeks said. Brandon glanced at him for a moment, scrutinizing him, and then said,
"Reseda."
"Bingo."
"I hated Reseda guys," Brandon said, sounding like he meant it. Deeks couldn't help laughing. He felt just a little bit bad that he was getting on Brandon's good side for the case.
"You know, Van Nuys used to have the hottest girls back in the day," Deeks said, thinking of a few girls in particular.
"Still does. But they got attitude."
"They all got attitude." Deeks raised his voice a little to make sure Kensi heard him. As expected she turned her head, rolling her eyes at him. She would have fit right in at Van Nuys.
Deeks continued chatting with Brandon while they drove to his house. Brandon had warmed up ever so slightly, seeming to enjoy dissing anything and everything Reseda. Kensi remained silent as she drove, reluctant to disrupt the connection, however fleeting it may be.
When they got to his house, Deeks ushered Brandon inside while Kensi cleared the backyard and house. As she came back through the kitchen, she heard Deeks talking about birthday cards and paused, sensing that it was a poor time for an interruption.
"You know, after high school I didn't have any plans. No, uh, job, didn't know about college," Deeks told him. Kensi frowned, wondering where he'd come up with this. Was any of it true? As far as she knew, he'd lived with his mom as a teenager.
"I know the feeling." Brandon sounded sympathetic. There was a moment of silence and then Deeks spoke again.
"My dad and I are polar opposites, 'cause he's the kind of guy that looks, like, six different directions before he crosses the street." Kensi was amazed at how easily he spun a story. Even if it was partially based in reality, he once again was succeeding with a skill that many trained agents struggled with.
"He actually said to me, one time, he said that, "if you don't get your act together, you're gonna spend the rest of your life trapped in this town. You know, just like every other loser that's too scared to venture out in the world and make his mark."
"And… So when did you do it? Move out of L.A., conquer your demons, prove the old man wrong? That's the next chapter of this little pep talk, right?" Brandon asked, his voice turning sarcastic. Any trust between him and Deeks seemed to be quickly evaporating.
Deeks huffed out a laugh and she could picture him fiddling with his hair like he did when he was uncomfortable.
"To this day, I've never lived further away than two miles from the house that I grew up in," he said.
Kensi's cell rang, cutting short her eavesdropping. It was Eric with Brandon's call log. She walked in as Deeks was telling some story about getting in trouble with his dad and she caught his eye, nodding in the direction of the kitchen.
"Hey, Eric has an update," she said shortly. Deeks followed her into the kitchen and she kept her voice low as she told him about the calls and the implications. Deeks nodded, sighing and said,
"Ok, let me talk to him. Maybe he won't be so defensive if it's coming from me."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Kensi asked, thinking that it wouldn't be good to damage the only connection Brandon had made.
"I think I can get him to talk to me," Deeks insisted. "He trusts me enough that if I ask him about it, we might not completely alienate him."
"You like him, don't you?" Deeks shrugged at her question, tucking his thumbs into his pockets as he turned back towards the house.
"He reminds me of someone I used to know."
It wasn't really an answer and Kensi wondered if he was actually talking about himself.
Deeks came out a few minutes later and quietly got in the SUV. He was holding what looked like a blue envelope.
"What's that?"
"Probably nothing," he answered, pulling out a card with a picture of a younger Thomas Booth and a little boy she assumed was Brandon slipped inside.
"You took that from his house?" Kensi asked, surprised and also impressed that he would think of it. "Tsk, tsk, taking things without a warrant," she teased.
"He threw it away," Deeks said, rolling his eyes. "He really does not like his father at all. But I don't think he had anything to do with his murder. He claims he just needed to talk to his uncle after finding out his dad was dead."
She pulled into traffic, watching Deeks from the corner of her eye.
"You told him a lot about your father. Was any of it true?" He fingered the card for a second then slipped it in his pocket.
"You really think I haven't lived more than two miles from the home I grew up in?" He rubbed at his bottom lip, looking out the window.
"It sounded pretty believable to me," Kensi said, keeping her voice light. She knew his family was a slightly hands-off topic, but he had brought it up with a Brandon. He could have found another way to gain his trust.
"I was telling a story," Deeks said firmly. "If you recall, I'm surprisingly good at that."
"Okay." She didn't completely believe him, but she didn't press anymore. It wasn't like she'd been completely open about her past either.
"I don't think Brandon had any idea that his uncle is involved," Deeks said firmly as he stared at the pictures of Khan's victims. He sounded a little defensive, like he was expecting someone to challenge him. "As much animosity as he has for his father, he wanted him to care. I think he's actually mad at him for getting killed."
"I agree," Callen said. "Which means that Brandon is still in danger. But that doesn't get us any closer figuring out where the high value target is."
"What about this?" Deeks pulled out the card and picture, handing it to Eric. "Brandon mentioned that his dad was always late with birthday cards and this was mailed the day he was kidnapped. Maybe Booth had something more important than birthdays on his mind when he sent that."
Eric quickly scanned it, revealing a seal under the service which contained a set of coordinates to the high value target's location.
"Booth must have known we'd investigate and hoped we'd find the picture," Sam commented. "It was a risky move."
"Especially since it could have put his son in more danger," Kensi pointed out.
"Nice catch, by the way," Nell said to Deeks as they pinpointed the exact location.
"We need to intercept Jafar Khan before he kills the target and disappears," Callen said grimly. "Now we just have to convince Hetty to let us go."
As they left the room, Deeks stayed behind, chatting with Eric and Nell. He joined Kensi in the bullpen a few minutes later.
"Hey, how do you feel about taking a field trip?" he asked. "I think we should probably get this back to Brandon."
"What did you write in the card?" Kensi asked Deeks as he silently got into the SUV again, his eyes introspective.
"What makes you think I would write anything in his card?" he countered. "All I did was return his property." Rolling her eyes, she took his hand and flipped it over.
"Deeks, you have blue ink on your fingers." He looked at the smudges for a moment and then sighed, rubbing his thumb across his bottom lip. He didn't move his hand from hers.
"His last memories of his dad shouldn't all be negative," he said finally.
"Why does it matter so much?" Kensi asked, trying to understand why a random teenager had struck such a nerve. "You'll probably never see Brandon Booth again, or know if what you did had any affect."
"I've known a lot of kids like him. Kids with absent fathers. All they want to know is that the guy cared, even a little bit. And I gave him that." His voice deepened as he spoke, growing more emotional.
"Your dad was like Thomas Booth, wasn't he?" Kensi concluded. He chuckled at that, his lips twisting with half a smirk. He twisted his head to look at her, his bangs falling into his eyes with the movement. His sarcastic expression didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Unfortunately, my dad was nothing like him," he said. "We should probably get back to the mission before Hetty sends out a search team or something." It was a clear request to end the conversation. Kensi wasn't quite through though.
"You did a good thing today," she said, squeezing his hand. "And whenever you're ready to tell me more about your past, I'll be here." She leaned over to kiss him, just a brief brush of their lips, but it was enough to wipe the frown from his face. Pulling back, she put the vehicle into drive, and grinned at Deeks.
"Now what where you telling Brandon about these Van Nuys girls?"
A/N: Per several people's suggestions and my own preferences for this story, I will probably be using select scenes from some episodes along with whatever my lurid imagination comes up with.