Quo Plus Habent

…

The darkness of the water suddenly turned lighter and Deeks could feel sand beneath his feet. When he pushed down with his legs, he stood upright; breaking the surface and the bright sunshine caused him to blink his eyes against the light. He was now standing at the edge of the surf, only a few yards away from the beach with soft waves breaking against the white sand and pushing him gently forward. Shaking the water from his eyes and moving his hair from his face, he saw that there was a small crowd standing in a small semicircle, seemingly waiting for something.

Or someone.

Deciding to just investigate exactly what was happening, Deeks sloshed through the water, moving closer and closer to the edge of the breaking waves. After a moment, he found himself standing on clear sand and he was no longer wearing just his regular board-shorts, but now had on a pair of thin-weave, cotton pants. On his feet were a pair of simple, brown leather sandals and he was wearing a loose fitting, white cotton shirt. It was a fine outfit for strolling along the beach in Tahiti or Hawaii or wherever he was at the moment but as there were no familiar land marks to identify his exact location, he had no idea where he could possibly be.

Deciding to ask the small crowd, the lanky detective walked across the warm sand was just about to call out to the closest person when the person suddenly turned. It was an energetic Eric Beale, wearing a similar outfit. The young tech's eyes lit up and he reached out to catch Deeks' arm/ "There you are! We were starting to get worried!"

Eric was excited about something, about what, Deeks had no idea. "We? Who's we?"

But when he took a moment to actually look at the people assembled on the beach, he found some very familiar faces. There was Nell, who stepped up and tool Eric's other hand. Then he spotted some old friends from his old high school, along with Ray and his little family. Deeks wanted to stop and chat but both Eric and Nell were tugging him through the crowd so fast that he was having a hard time staying on his feet.

The faces all became a blur be he was sure he saw Captain Bates and some of the guys and gals from the LAPD, dressed smartly in their uniforms despite the casualness of the rest of the assembly. As they neared the front of the crowd, he caught sight of his mother and her beau standing next to Hetty and Granger but he was whisked by before anyone could do anything other than smile back at him.

He was spun in place a few feet in front of everyone and when he turned, he saw Kensi's mother and father standing side by side, holding hands. Deeks tried desperately to say anything but no words came from his lips nor had anyone else spoke since Eric's frantic greeting. He wanted to ask what in the world was happening, why were they standing on the beach, why was Kensi's dad here?

Finally, his voice found itself and he screamed out, "Would somebody … anybody … please tell me what the hell we are doing?!"

Everyone just smiled back at him, revealing nothing. He called out to them again, louder this time but received nothing but the same response in return. Taking a step toward his mother, he thought that at least his own mother would say something. Just as he made his move, everyone turned away from him, leaving him staring at their backs. This was really starting to piss him off.

But when he looked to see what had caught everyone else's attention, his anger quickly turned to joy.

Kensi was cresting a small sand dune several yards behind the congregation, her movements slow but purposeful. Her long, dark hair, normally worn loose around her shoulders, was pulled up into a tight weave of braids across the top of her head, making her look majestic and regal. There were small white flowers adorning the braids, adding an almost child-like playfulness to her appearance, making Deeks' heart skip in his chest. Her makeup accentuated her natural beauty and her dark eyes, which were locked on him as she continued to close the distance. Her dress, that hugged her body like it was a part of it, was a flowing wave of white lace that danced when caught by the ocean breeze.

She was absolutely glorious.

Deeks wanted to run to her, catch her up in his arms and kiss her until the stars fell from the sky but he remained where he was as she moved closer and closer. Her smile was as radiant as the sun and he simply forgot about everyone and everything else, letting her become his entire world. In that moment, they were alone on the beach, lost in their loving gazes, content to simply be.

As she drew closer, Deeks could see tears tracks on her cheeks and his own eyes were moist, ready to release their own. He reached out to touch her but she passed him by, his hands grasping nothing but air. His mind told his feet to move, to fall into step along with her, but he remained in place as Kensi simply slipped by, walking on past as if he was not there at all.

"Kens?" Calling out softly to her, Deeks hoped that this was just her being silly at the last moment, but she gave no indication that she had seen nor heard him, continuing on her path away from him.

"Kensi!" He was growing frantic now the further she moved away, walking further and further down the beach. She was leaving him behind and he was powerless to make any move to stop her.

"KENSI!" Deeks called out as loud as he could, his throat burning with the effort. "Please, baby … come back!"

Nothing changed.

Kensi continued to move along the sand, as if he did not exist anymore.

Deeks looked quickly over his shoulder, hoping that maybe he would receive some sort of help from anyone in the group standing on the beach. But he now found himself all alone on the sand; all of his friends and family were gone, disappeared like the morning mist. Spinning quickly to find Kensi once more, he found her almost out of sight, edging closer and closer to disappearing over another sand dune.

"No baby … don't go … please …" He was begging now and he felt no shame. The love of his life was walking away from him and he was powerless to stop her. "I can't do this alone … come back … please …"

And then, she was gone.

Deeks' heart thumped in his chest, burning with a consuming flame that moved to every part of him. His head throbbed and his vision became blurry as it became harder and harder to keep his eyes open against the brightness of the sun. It felt like someone had hit him with a hammer behind his left ear, the pain becoming more and more intense, making him want to scream.

Until it finally stopped and the bright light winked out, replaced by a cold darkness.

…

A/N: Quo Plus Habent translates to "the more people have".

I really hope that you are enjoying this attempt to get the writing flowing again.

Thanks for all the great reviews and the support.

Semper Fi

JS