Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & NCIS: LA: S10.
Author's Note: Written for Day 26 of the 2020 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: I've done some handwaving at both the timeline and certain implied canon from 'Chosen'. Mainly because I can't find the years Deeks practiced law, but then it's unlikely to have lined up with my wriggly timeline. So, yeah.

Three days after her latest meeting with her sort-of friend, Kensi Blye she was on the beach watching Kensi's fiance surf. Detective Martin Deeks really, really disliked her, and despite the verbal onslaught, she didn't think it was personal. More like, there was something more behind his behavior and she wanted to know what it was and why he insisted on taking it out on her.

By the time he came out of the water, she had been there for an hour. He'd seen her about 20 minutes prior but had chosen to ignore her. Regardless, he couldn't stay out on the waves forever. Despite the warm weather, it was cold in the ocean, and he needed to warm up before potentially going out again.

The glare he pierced her with was visible even to the people who were just catching some rays or lounging around doing whatever. They shied away from the bad mood, clearly hoping it wouldn't affect them. Or in some cases, hoping for a show.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he came within normal hearing range. When he was close enough he hovered over her with his board in one hand and dripping water everywhere.

"We need to clear the air, just you and I. All this misdirected anger has to come from somewhere, and since I'm sure I haven't done anything to cause it there has to be another reason. Something you discovered in between your team getting the C&D and the next time we met after that."

Deeks narrowed his eyes at her, "You know exactly why! Don't play stupid!"

Buffy rose from the sand and took her beach towel and bag with her. "Let's get somewhere more comfortable and then you can explain to me what you think I know, and why."

He gave a non-verbal reply and they walked off the sandy part of the beach and upon a slightly raised platform with tables and benches on it, and perhaps more importantly, a sunshade. Deeks stuck his surfboard in the sand and sat on of the benches, while Buffy took the other side. They had chosen the one furthest away from any other people so their conversation could remain at least semi-private.

"You know why, you're one of them." The glare was back again.

"Detective Deeks." She said before he got any further. "I don't know what your problem is, but if you explain it to me then maybe I can help or at least give you my side of it."

Another thought crossed his face and he asked, "How did you know I was here?"

"That's easy enough to answer. Kensi called me as she promised. We talked, and she suggested you and I talk it out. Then she told me you'd be here today."

He frowned but accepted her reply without commenting. "You're a member of the Watcher's Council because that's what the International Defender's Council used to be called. You're a group of kidnappers, using children and teens for god knows what."

"Ah, crap." Buffy exhaled eloquently. Well, that did explain his anger towards her and the IDC in general. Which meant his anger was probably warranted. "Who did you lose? A sister? Cousin? Daughter? A female friend?"

Deeks' attitude intensified. "For someone claiming not to know, you look unsurprised."

"I don't know about your specific case, but there are a lot of those. But before you ask, no, I can't tell you why the old Council kidnapped young girls, other than it's not what you think."

"It's not what I think? There are only so many reasons why a group of old men kidnaps children and teenage girls, Summers! If it's not what it looks like, then what is the reason?"

How was she supposed to explain that without telling him the kidnapped girls were Potential Slayers, whom the old Council wanted to isolate and train to make sure they were loyal to the Watcher's Council and only them? Especially since he didn't seem inclined to give her any leeway at all.

"I can't tell you." He glared angrily at her from across the small, square table. "Even if I was allowed to tell you, it wouldn't help. It would just raise more questions and the answers aren't something you want to know about."

Then she repeated her earlier question, "Who did you lose?"

"It wasn't a personal loss." He finally admitted. "I worked as a public defender before I joined the LAPD, and one of the cases I handled was a young couple who broke into the home of a member of the Watcher's Council after their daughter went missing. He had visited them several times, attempting to get them to legally hand her over and give him custody, but they refused. They were poor but loved their only child. When they reported their child missing he became the main suspect, but the police were unable to do anything because he had diplomatic immunity."

"I am sorry to hear that, but I assure you, with the change of name came a change of leadership and how we operate. One of the things we changed was kidnapping children and teenagers. It's no longer part of what we do, and it never should've been." Those cases were just one of the many where the Old Council's way was causing them problems long after most of the bastards were dead and gone.

"If you give me her name, date of birth, and when she went missing I'll see if I can find out what happened to her."

Some of the anger left him, but not all. It was replaced by suspicion. "You're going to tell me that? Just like that? No threats, no legal hurdles? Nothing?"

"I, we, are not the Old Council and we certainly don't operate the way they did. If what it takes is getting you this information then, sure. I'll get it."

"You're talking about her as if she's dead."

Buffy looked out towards the ocean and its waves for a few moments, just gathering her thoughts. "In all probability, she has been dead for years. Most of the girls they took are." In between the girls getting 'too old', the Bringers killing off the Potentials in the early 2000s, and being Called by Willow's spell and then killed, there wasn't much hope.

"Her name is Carol Connelly, she was born on June 5th, 1994, and she went missing on November 30th, 2001."

It meant she was nine in 2003, or more likely eight, too young to have been Chosen, but if she was still alive in 2007 when she turned 13 she would've received the Slayer powers. Still, the likelihood of her surviving 11 years after that was small, even with a large number of Slayers worldwide. The average lifespan was four years.

Buffy spent a few minutes rummaging around in her cute beach bag before she located her phone. Once she had it in her hands she typed in the information she'd been given along with a note to herself before she sent the email to her work address. She'd meant what she told Deeks, whatever she found would probably be dry reports followed by the basic stats of the girl's demise. If she'd been alive when the Scoobies took over then her life might've been good for a while, but there were always those who fell through the cracks.

She put the phone back in her bag and looked at the surfer across from her, "Just to be clear, this girl's disappearance is the reason why you've been so hostile towards me. You think I run around and do the same thing that happened to her."

"Yes."

"Getting you this information won't change your mind about me or the IDC."

"No."

"Right," she sighed. "It was worth a try, but I'll see what I can find regardless."

Buffy placed the handles of her bag over her shoulder and got up. "It's been unpleasant, but I have an elsewhere to be." She walked a few steps away before turning back. "I'll be in touch when I get the information."

Then she added, more as an afterthought. "Tell Kensi I said hi and that I tried."

Then she walked back to her car. Deeks would reconsider or he wouldn't. There were a lot of people in situations like his, people who had either known or been related to Potentials and Slayers who had been taken by the Council to never be seen or heard from again. She understood the anger now, but it wasn't her fault.