I always hate when stories don't get finished, yet here I am not updating my own! Sorry everyone who's been following this story. Can't believe I haven't posted since 2018, where did the year go!

In this chapter I'm bringing the Deeks and Sam feud a little earlier than later seasons hahaha. Hopefully it's not too much. There's still more to the story! Stay tuned!

Takes place in season two.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:LA.

"Sorry I'm late." Deeks rushed through the bullpen and quickly sat down.

"Third time this week." Sam commented.

Deeks decided to ignore the comment and get started with his work.

Moments later, Eric announced from above. "We got a case."

An hour later they were entering a warehouse in full tactical gear.

"On my count." Callen said and then they breached the building.

Callen signaled for Deeks and Kensi to move towards the rooms on the left while he and Sam took the other side. Going through a door, they searched the area.

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Kensi, Deeks?" Callen said over the coms.

"Federal agents! Hands in the air!" Kensi shouted at their suspect. The man hesitated. "Don't..." She spoke but it was too late, he took off in a sprint.

"Why do they always run?" Deeks mumbled as they ran after him.

He led them through several rooms and then eventually outside. The moment they went through the door the suspect had just gone through, all they could see was the back alleyway and no suspect.

They slowly made their way down the small street. Each taking a different side to focus on as they cleared behind crates and walls.

Kensi walked slowly, stepping with one foot in front of the other. A gust of wind blew past her ear and she turned sharply gasping. There was nothing. She looked behind her at Deeks to see how he was and the moment she did that a force pushed her to the ground knocking her hand into her face. The suspect took off towards the end of the alley and out of her view.

"Kens!" Deeks ran over to her after hearing the scuffle and crouched down to her, still on the ground.

"I'm okay. Go, go, go!" He hesitated

"Are you sure?"

"Deeks, go!" Then he went in the direction that their suspect had gone. He ran quickly but when he ended up at a busy intersection, he knew it was too late. The suspect wasn't in sight.

"Nell, I lost him."

"Okay, putting out a bolo."

He made his way back to Kensi and saw her hold her hand against her cheek.

"Couldn't find him." He said. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Her tone slightly irritated.

"Okay." He said and he couldn't help but feel that some of that anger was directed towards him.

"What happened out there?" Hetty asked her senior agents.

"I'm not sure." Callen said. "The suspect got away."

Sam looked pissed now that the main suspect in their case had taken off running and could be anywhere.

"Maybe a partner swap would be best for now."

"Hetty…"

"It can be of great help to switch it up every once in a while." Her tone, leaving no room for discussion.

As the partners made their way back to their desks where Kensi and Deeks were sitting, there was a silence that fell over them until Eric came running down the stairs. "We found him. He entered the building in Santa Monica fifteen minutes ago." He showed them the footage.

"He hasn't come out any of the exits." Nell added.

Callen stood up and gave them their tasks. "Kensi and I will go to Santa Monica. Sam and Deeks, you guys can interview his mother when she gets off from work at three o'clock, see if she knows what's going on."

Kensi and Deeks looked at each other surprised that they were being split up but she followed Callen out of the building quickly.

After they arrived back from interviewing the mother, they were supposed to do some paperwork but the silence was quickly ended.

"You seem distracted." Sam stated.

"Excuse me?" Deeks said slightly offended.

"You're distracted." Sam repeated.

"Well I'm not out there with my partner."

"And who's fault is that?"

"You know what, I have work to do. I need to make a call to LAPD."

"Of course you do."

"I don't know what your problem with me is."

"I feel like you have one foot in LAPD and barely one foot here. You're often late, you leave early, you're on the phone all the time..."

"I'm committed to NCIS. I always have Kensi's back. We work well together." He said clearly. "Always have everybody's back."

"What's your point?"

"I can take the crap you dish out ten times over. I'm just curious about the why."

"I'm Navy, straight up. Everything you do is different. The way you dress, your jokes. Your hair." Sam pointed up to his head as if it wasn't already clear.

"If this is about my haircut it needs to end."

"It's not about your hair. It's about what it says about you as a person."

"So you're saying it's about my character?" He couldn't believe this was happening right now.

"Yeah, something like that."

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know you let your partnership get in the way of the case."

"I was concerned for my partner's safety. That's what partners are for."

"Then why did the suspect get away?" Sam took Deeks' silence as defeat and walked away, leaving Deeks standing there in frustration.

A moment later he heard a voice behind him. "Hey."

He turned to see who it was. "Hi Nell. You need something?"

She hesitated before answering. "No, I was just seeing if you were okay? I overheard and…"

"I'm fine, thank you, though."

"It seemed pretty heated, are you sure?"

"I'm good." He said but his face said otherwise.

"It's been a long day. I'm sure with a good night's sleep, everything will be good tomorrow."

"Yeah." He hoped so. She turned to walk away. "Thank you Nell." She looked at him one more time and smiled.

"Goodnight."

"Where's Deeks?" She said as they got back.

"Left already." Sam said.

"Oh okay." Kensi went to pack up her bag quickly. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

She walked down the hallway, when she heard her name. "Kensi?"

"Yeah? Nell." She said when she saw her coworker standing there.

"I know I probably shouldn't interfere and it really isn't my place but Sam and Deeks got into a pretty heated conversation earlier and Deeks seemed upset."

"Oh okay, I uhm… I'll call him and see how he is. Thanks."

"Alright dinner is served." Deeks said as cheerfully as he could as he put the plate in front of her.

They ate quietly and when she finished she came over to him.

"What's wrong Jules?"

"Nothing." She laid her head on his shoulder.

"Just need a cuddle?"

"Yeah."

"I need a cuddle too." He kissed her head. "I had a rough day at work."

"How come?"

"Just had a little argument with someone cause we didn't agree."

"Did you stand up for yourself?" She asked and he had to smile as she repeated a question he had often asked her over the years.

"I did."

"Was it with Kensi? Is that why she's not here?"

"No, sweetheart. I didn't have an argument with Kensi, it was someone else."

The doorbell rang so he stood up and walked to the door with Jules in his arms. When he looked through the peephole, and saw that Kensi was on the other side, he swung it open.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hi. Come in." He stepped aside for her to walk in.

"Hi Jules, how are you?"

"Okay."

"You tired?" She asked the little girl and she nodded. "Me too. It's been a long day." Kensi looked at Deeks. He looked exhausted too. "I uhm…" She didn't really know what to say. She knew the reason she was here but she didn't want to say it in front of Jules.

"Have a seat Kens. We were just sitting here."

There was silence between them until Kensi spoke softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great." He said hoping it sounded truthful but then Jules moved her head from his shoulder to look at him.

"You said you had an argument. That's not great." She said to her dad with worried eyes.

Deeks smiled at that. Kids are brutally honest at the 'best' moments. "I'm okay sweetheart." Looking at Kensi, he could see that she wasn't buying one second of it. "I think it's time for bed."

She made a face. "You always say you think when you really mean, it is." Jules' honesty continued and this time Kensi smiled.

"It's my nice way of telling you, it's bedtime." He kissed her forehead and then stood up with her in his arms still.

"Goodnight." They said and Kensi stayed where she was.

"I'm going to read with her for a bit, you can stay if you want but it might be a while."

"Sure. I'll be here."

On the one hand, he was glad that she wasn't leaving again so fast but on the other hand he knew the reason was because she wanted to talk about what had happened earlier that day. He just hoped she wouldn't pressure him too much.

She'd been sitting and waiting for a while now and she was afraid that maybe he was stalling, not wanting to talk to her. She had to use the restroom so she made her way to the back of the apartment.

As she walked past Jules' room she could hear them talking and stopped to listen. She didn't want to invade on personal conversations but she heard Jules spelling out words.

"She… was… g-o-i-n-g… to… uhm…" The reading was very slow.

"Swim."

"In… the… o… "

"Where does daddy like to surf?"

"The beach?"

"What do we call the water?"

"Uhm… the sea?"

"It is but this is a different word for it, the ocean."

"She was going to swim in the ocean." She repeated the whole sentence.

"Great job sweetheart. I think that's a good place to stop for tonight. I'm so proud of you."

Kensi heard Deeks wrapping up their conversation but she didn't want to stop listening.

"I love you this much daddy."

"Well I love you this much."

She could imagine them spreading out their arms as they said it along with the tiny giggles coming from Jules. There was a beat of silence and then she heard Jules' soft voice ask him a question.

"Are you going to tell Kensi about the argument now?" The moment she heard that she walked away to the bathroom. His response was not for her to hear even if she desperately wanted to know.

He left her door open slightly and then made his way back to the livingroom. She looked up and stood. "Hey."

"Hi." He came closer, rubbing the back of his neck as he did when he was nervous.

She hugged him uncharacteristically. "I'm so glad you're my partner."

"Who told you?" He stepped back.

"Nell, but that's not why I'm saying this. I should have said it earlier and I know I wasn't always the friendliest partner but I'm really grateful that you joined the team."

"I'm glad I did too, for some reasons… but it's hard with Jules."

"I'm sorry for whatever Sam said, Deeks. He doesn't know and I know that if he did he would understand."

"He's a dad and he's never late to work."

"He also has a wife who takes care of the kids' schedules."

"He's right though, I have one foot at LAPD and I'm trying to be at NCIS but then Jules needs me and I don't know." He moved a hand over his face in frustration.

"I know you probably won't want to but... you could tell them."

He sighed. "I really don't know." He walked back to the living room slowly. "On one side maybe they'd understand but on the other side, I just really want this to be my thing. Knowing about Jules shouldn't change their minds about me."

"You're right, but it could help to explain some things."

"I really don't want them to know yet."

"I understand."

He looked at her. "Your cheek looks okay." He said reaching to move his thumb over her cheek softly.

She held her breath for a second and then spoke. "I said I was fine. I was just surprised."

"I'm glad. You want a drink?"

"Yes, please." They enjoyed eachother's company and Deeks was grateful for his partner.

Thanks for reading!