So sorry this took so long! It has been a rough couple of months. There hasn't been much time and then there was a death in the family. It's been hard to really be motivated about anything but I have finished my exams and now have vacation so there's time to catch up.

Hopefully this long chapter will kind of make up for it. The case is a little weak but it focuses a lot on Deeks and Kensi and their relationship as partners or maybe some hints of more… but not really ahahaha! They're still partners/friends!

Takes place in season two.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:LA.

Kensi tried calling Deeks for the third time without answer. He was supposed to be up by now so she wondered if the sound on his phone was off.

She texted him. 'Did you still need a ride to work? Let me know.'

She waited for a response but when she finished getting ready, nothing had come in still, so she decided to drive to his place early just in case he had slept past his alarm.

Knocking on the door woke him from his sleep. Looking at the time, he immediately jumped up. He was going to be late, he must've slept through his alarm, three missed calls from Kensi, Kensi he thought. The knocking reminded him why he woke up in the first place so he rushed to open the door.

"Kens." He walked away to Jules' room quickly.

"Good morning." Kensi was left to close the door.

He came back out of her room practically running towards the kitchen. "I need to get her breakfast ready."

"I can do that, just go get ready."

"Okay, she likes fruit loops with a little milk and then a glass of juice." He started towards his bedroom to get ready when Jules called for him. "Daddy!"

"Coming!" He went back to her.

"Hey Jules." Kensi said as she was coming over to the couch and Deeks finally went to get ready after helping Jules.

"Hi."

"I have your breakfast right here." She pointed to the bowl on the coffee table. "I'll turn on the tv." Jules took a seat on the floor as she started to eat her cereal.

When Jules finished, she stood and turned towards her. Jules stared at her for a moment.

"Something wrong?"

"No." Jules said. "I like your necklace."

Kensi instinctively reached to pull it from under her shirt. She didn't think Jules could have even really seen it to give her a compliment but probably just wanted to start a conversation. "Thank you. My dad gave it to me."

"My dad gave me a necklace once too."

"Yeah? Dads are the best huh?" Jules nodded in agreement.

"Can you braid my hair Kensi?" She fidgeted as she took two hair bands off her wrist.

"Of course, why don't you have a seat right here." She patted the spot next to her on the couch. "Would you like one or two braids?"

"Two." She started working on them quietly. Jules had trusted her enough to ask for her help with this and she felt a sense of accomplishment. Deeks had told her that she was very shy and could take a long time to warm up to someone but Jules was doing very well in Kensi's eyes.

The silence was gone quickly when Jules stated her observations. "We never have girls over."

Kensi wondered where this was going. "Your nanny Alice is a girl and she's here everyday." She wanted to say woman but stuck with Jules' words.

"I know but she always leaves when Daddy comes home."

"That's true but sometimes your Grandma comes over and she's a girl."

She seemed to think about it. "But never someone like your age."

Kensi doubted she even knew her age but it was true that Alice and her grandma were not the same age as Kensi. "Has your dad never had a girlfriend?"

She thought about it again and shook her head. "No, never. You're the only one."

Kensi was glad Jules couldn't see her face because she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. She wasn't Deeks' girlfriend but Jules had obviously been thinking about the fact that she was the only girl that came over sometimes. Kensi tied the hair band at the end of her hair. "How about we have a girls day, just you and me?" Kensi suggested.

"What would we do?"

"I don't know. Anything you want."

"Could we get our nails done?" She said with excitement bubbling over the edge.

"Sure." Kensi chuckled. This was not what Kensi would have expected or wanted for herself but if it made Jules happy she would do it

"When can we have our girls day?"

"Maybe this weekend? We'll have to ask your dad when he's in a better mood." They both chuckled at that.

Their laughing ceased when Deeks came rushing into the living room. "You ready Jules?"

"Ready!"

"Okay."

He got the booster seat from next to the door and put it in Kensi's car. They dropped Jules off and drove to work and once they arrived he threw a blanket over Jules' seat so nobody would see it.

"We have a missing NCIS agent, last seen at his home by neighbors."

"He knows a lot of sensitive intel. It is vital that we find him and assure that no information has gotten out."

"His wife is in the boatshed right now. She left the house before him, they were supposed to meet for lunch but he never showed up."

"Which do you prefer?" Callen asked Kensi but Deeks jumped in.

"Boatshed!"

"We'll take the boatshed." Sam said smugly.

"Oh come on." Deeks shouted as the other two walked out of OSP. "See what I did there?" Deeks said to Kensi.

"You wanted to search the house."

"Exactly and they fell for it."

"It probably just saves them hours of traffic."

"I like to think it was because of me."

They arrived in the quiet neighborhood and found the house.

The door had visibly been kicked in so they entered with caution.

Weapons were raised and they cleared the rooms. The house was a mess, everything on the floor and all the drawers emptied. They moved upstairs to clear that area as well and didn't see anything threatening.

"Okay, let's look for anything that looks out of place."

"Really? Everything is out of place."

"I'm sure whoever was here found what they were looking for, looks like nothing has been left unturned but we have to try."

They decided to start downstairs, sorting through mail and looking for any electronic devices but everything seemed to be cleared.

She looked around the kitchen, the door to the backyard didn't look like it had been opened then decided to check the trash.

The next thing she realized was something around her neck. She kicked and kicked to try and get free but then everything went black.

"The wife has no idea what could be wrong. Says they didn't really talk about work."

"Have Kensi and Deeks checked in?"

"Uhm, no I actually haven't heard from them in two hours."

"They should have called by now. Check their location."

"Copy that."

Nell checked where their phones were but couldn't find anything. "I don't see them. Their phones have been turned off."

"Can you turn them on?"

"No."

"What was their last location? We're heading there now."

The first thing she noticed was a pain on the back of her head. It was stinging and her eyes felt heavy.

"Kens." A voice said but she couldn't place it. "Kensi, open your eyes." When she finally did she saw her blonde partner above her. Her head was cradled in his lap and he was stroking her cheek. "Hey, there."

Kensi groaned in pain and closed her eyes for a second again. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. I think it's a basement." She started to sit up. "Woah Kens, slow down."

"We've gotta get out of here." She stood up and wobbled with Deeks still having a grip of her arm.

"I've already checked. Kens, you need to sit down. Your head is bleeding a lot." She listened to him and let him help her sit down. She was feeling a little lightheaded and was definitely exhausted.

"What do you think they want?"

"I have no idea. Hopefully the team will notice we haven't checked in and find us here." They had taken their phones and weapons but he had faith in their team to find their location. "For now we just need to keep pressure on your head." She noticed his hoodie in his hands with blood all over it.

"How long was I out?"

"Not too long since I woke up but I have no idea how long we've both been out."

"This is not how I expected this day to go." She laughed but it was a painful laugh.

"Me either."

You don't expect to leave the house and possibly not come back at the end of the day. Then her thoughts turned to something else, rather someone else.

"Jules…" She stated knowing he'd understand exactly what she meant.

"I know. Today has not been a good day, but I've been in worse situations and have made it out so we're going to be okay." He always had to tell himself that, no matter what, everything would turn out okay in the end. So far his luck hadn't run out and he wasn't planning on that ending today. It may have started off a bit rough when his alarm didn't go and the afternoon wasn't a good situation at all but at the end of the day, he hoped he'd be home again.

"We need to get out of here." She said again. "You need to get home to Jules."

"I know and we will." He squeezed her hand.

Sam and Callen were searching the house for Kensi and Deeks. Looking for any clues as to where they could be or if they had even made it inside the house. Between all the mess they weren't even sure what they could find.

Almost giving up on this location, they made one last walk through of the place.

"G, wait!" Sam said as he bent down to pick something up.

When Callen came closer, he saw what it was. "They were here." Sam was holding Kensi's necklace that she always wore under her shirt.

"Backyard." Callen said drawing his weapon again as they continued their search.

Deeks looked at his partner, he'd never seen her like this. She was concentrating on her breathing and trying to keep her eyes from closing but she smiled slightly.

"She's the cutest."

"Mhm?"

"Jules." She said making Deeks smile too.

"Yeah, she really is." He agreed. "She's my entire world."

"This morning she said you haven't had any relationships in a while." Kensi confessed, there was nothing else to do besides talk and wait. With the hope that the team would find them.

"Did she now?" He chuckled. "I have but they never last very long. I think I introduced one girl to Jules when she was about three, she doesn't remember but I haven't brought anyone home, no." He scratched his head nervously. "They usually say they don't mind that I have a kid but when the reality sets in, they freak out."

"I'm sorry, that must be frustrating… I kind of get where they're coming from though."

"So do I. It just sucks for me. I'd like to have a family someday and have more kids, but it's proving to be hard to achieve." He looked her in the eyes. "At some point everything will work out though, I hope, there will be a woman who will love Jules as her own and wants to be a family."

"I hope it for you." She said sincerely.

"Are you seeing anyone?" As long as they were on the topic, he was curious to know.

"No… The only guys I have contact with are the ones shooting at me, Callen, Sam, Eric and... you. Doesn't leave much time for a personal life relationship."

"It is possible, but it's hard, I know. It's difficult to change your way of life and routines for someone else, Jules and I do things certain ways and bringing someone else into that would change the dynamics, change the perspective on how we go about our daily lives."

"Yeah, it's an adjustment."

"When was your last serious relationship?"

"Uhm…" She thought about it. "I guess about six years ago."

"That's a long time."

"Yeah."

"Jack." He said softly.

"Mhm." He could tell that Jack leaving her on Christmas day had had a huge impact on her and it was understandable. You don't just bounce back from that easily. She had put up many walls in order to protect herself and so it wouldn't happen to her again.

"So have you had smaller relationships since then?"

"Yeah a few but nothing really lasted and then I kind of gave up on it. I don't usually go on second dates, I just end things before it gets serious."

"Sam told me that."

"You guys talked about me?" She asked skeptically.

"Well, no you see… it was more of just a comment. I don't even remember in what context really, so if you could not mention that I just told you what he told me, that would be great." He rambled.

"Don't worry, I won't rat you out to the big guy." She laughed softly.

"See you're laughing but this isn't funny. Have you seen the size of his arms?"

"Oh I've noticed, your arms could never compete with that."

"So you admit you've checked out my body?"

"Deeks." She kicked him softly with her foot by sliding it towards him. She didn't really feel like moving her arms because she was so tired.

"Good to know." He chuckled dodging her foot. "Alright, what are the ideal things you look for in a man?"

"I can't believe I'm talking to you about this."

"Come on partner, I want to know."

"Okay, uhm someone who is caring but not too clingy, who can give me space and leaves me alone when I want to be. He needs to have his own hobbies…"

"You like to be independent." It was pretty clear to him.

"Yes, I do. I've been independent for a very long time and I like it." He wondered what the underlying meaning of that was because he knew there was something she wasn't telling him.

"Sometimes it can be nice to share your struggles with someone else though, you're not alone in this world." Implying that he was there if she ever needed to get

"I know but sometimes it's easier to just fix things yourself. You don't have to rely on others, especially when they're not there." He didn't really know how to reply to that. "What about you?"

He thought about it. "She needs to be kind and caring, maybe tall and athletic but I don't really care what she looks like, she just needs to want to be a mom or at least a mother figure to Jules. Not get jealous if I have to cancel a date because my kid needs me more, can't stand when they get all 'you don't even seem to care about me'." He imitated with with a high pitched voice. "They need to understand that my baby girl will always be my priority."

She could see why he had been struggling with his dating life. Most women didn't want to be put in second place but she was sure he'd find the one. "Someone will, there's people out there for us." She said hoping it was true.

"They better be." He laughed.

"The real question is, where do we find these people?"

"Maybe our better halves are closer than we think."

They looked at each other intently until she broke eye-contact. There was more behind that statement that she just couldn't go into right now. "I thought I'd found mine already but I was wrong."

"Was that before NCIS?" She nodded. "You were so young. What made you join?"

"Well my dad was a marine and I always knew I wanted to do something like that, so I just sort of landed upon NCIS."

"That's cool."

"Mhm." Her eyes started to close.

"Stay with me Kens. Don't go falling asleep on me now." He joked but meaning what he said.

"I'm so tired."

"I know you are but you've gotta stay awake and keep talking to me." She opened her eyes as they waited.

More law enforcement officers were now surrounding the house. They had three missing NCIS agents with no clues as to where they'd gone and each moment that passed made them more nervous about their return.

They searched the house and the yard then moved to the shed. Everything was triple checked with no result.

The pounding on the door worried them, whoever had brought them here was back. Deeks moved to crouch in front of Kensi to protect her from what was about to come through that door.

"Callen?!" He asked in disbelief.

"You guys okay?" He asked quickly followed by Sam entering the room.

"Yeah but Kensi has a head injury, it's bleeding."

"We're going to need an ambulance for Kensi." Sam said into his ear mic.

"No, I don't need it. I'm fine." Kensi protested.

"You're not Kens."

"Deeks." She warned as she went to stand up.

"You need to get checked out." He said as he helped her.

"You don't need to get up yet Kensi, we'll have the paramedics come down here." Callen stated.

Deeks looked at her face and knew. "I think we'd like to just get out of this place."

Just when she thought his insisting was annoying, he used it in her favor. Just as she knew he did everything in her best favor because he cared.

"Okay."

"Where are we anyway?" Deeks asked.

"Secret basement in the shed." Callen told them. "We arrested two suspects who were driving back with your car Kens. That's why we weren't sure you guys had made it here at first. We found the missing agent down here as well, hurt but alive."

"That's good. Case solved."

"Yeah."

"Can you walk?" Deeks focused his attention on Kensi again.

"Yes." He helped her out.

Later when they were outside, Kensi was perched on the back of the ambulance waiting. "You should go home."

"It's okay, I want to make sure you get home okay."

"Sam or Callen can drop me off."

"I already told Alice, I'll be later."

"Deeks…"

"I'm coming with you, stop fighting it."

He rode with her to the hospital in mostly silence. She was not happy to be going there let alone that he was coming too. All she wanted to do was go home and curl up in her bed.

When they got her seated on a bed, it was confirmed that she would need stitches. She wanted to show that it didn't hurt but it really did.

"Wanna squeeze my hand, Kens?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt."

He grabbed onto her hand before she could say anything else. He did it because he knew she wouldn't want to admit it, but maybe it would be nice to know she wasn't alone. Her grip noticeably tightened as the doctor went on and after a short while he was done.

Sam had dropped them off at work so they could take Kensi's car home. Callen had driven it back to osp once they realized she needed to go to the hospital so Deeks was now driving her home. It was a complicated situation with the cars but the plan was for him to drive her car until the next day. He had pleaded her to stay the night at his apartment like she had Christmas night but she really just wanted to go home to her bed.

He parked the car in one of the spots in her apartment building's parking lot and turned towards her.

"I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."

"You better not sleep past your alarm again." She smirked.

"I wouldn't dare."

"Good."

"Callen called while you were resting and said that the agent was going to be okay."

"That's great."

"Yeah." He searched his own pocket for his house keys but remembered something else. "Oh, Sam gave this to me." He handed her a necklace. "They found it in the house, it's how they knew we'd been there."

She nodded seeming to get emotional. "Guess he's always looking out for me." She whispered.

"Who's that?"

"My dad." She said as she started at it in her hands. "He gave to me and I haven't taken it off since."

"That's amazing." It was crazy how some things played out in the world. Without the necklace Sam and Callen could have had no clues as to where they were or that they even gone inside the house and he might not have been going home to Jules now. "Do you want me to put it back on?"

She looked at him, eyes wide with surprise. "Yes, please." She handed it to him and turned herself towards the passenger side window. Then moved her hair to the side and let him put the necklace around her neck.

"They make this look so much easier in movies, my fingers are too big." He said semi-seriously as he was trying to attach the two ends with the clasp but it made her laugh, not just a small laugh but a full out belly laugh.

The tension from today finally leaving the air. They were okay.

When he was finally able to connect it, she turned towards him again. "Thank you Deeks."

"Anytime partner."

"See you tomorrow."

"I'll be early." He promised as she closed the door.

When he got home, it was late. After Alice left quickly, he softly made his way over to Jules' room and he opened the door slowly. There she was, asleep cuddling her little bear. He walked to her bed and crouched down beside her head just to look at her little face.

She opened her eyes a tiny bit and spoke softly. "You didn't come home early."

He smiled a little. "No, I did not but I'm here now." He kissed her cheek.

"Can I sleep in your room tonight, daddy?"

"Sure sweetheart." She started to sit up. "Let's bring all the babies." He said taking a hand-full of her stuffed animals leaving the rest for her to get.

It was on days like this, that you had to keep your loved ones a little closer and hug them a little tighter. Thanking the universe for not letting his luck run out today, they fell asleep.

Thanks for reading!