thank you for your wonderful reviews follows/favs :] you guys are completely awesome and i love you! i hope you guys enjoyed the overdose of sugary fluff of last chapter.

now who's ready for some drama?

Chapter 8

Deeks was starting to lose his patience. He was already twenty minutes late for work, and he hadn't even left his apartment yet.

It'd been a week since Kensi had met Leo, and since then she'd seen him one other time; she'd hung out with them for a short while after work one night, having rode with Deeks that morning and left her car at his apartment.

Apparently, all it had taken was meeting her twice and Leo was infatuated with her. Well, the shaggy man muses as he walked down the hallway, it had only taken once for Deeks.

He opened Leo's door and practically groaned with frustration. Leo was still sitting on his bedroom floor -in his pajamas- playing with one of his toy cars. And the clothes Deeks had laid out for him were still sitting untouched on his bed.

"Leo, c'mon little man I've told you three times already to get dressed. Why are you so determined to keep me from going to work today?" Deeks asked, his tone reveling his growing frustration.

"I wanna pway wiff you. And Kens." Leo said firmly, crossing his arms.

"Leo, I wanna hang out with you and Kensi too; but I can't. I have to go to work and since you unplugged my alarm clock this morning -which you are so not off the hook for, we'll talk about that later- I'm already late and I still have to drive there." Deeks sighed, rubbing a hand across his face.

"No! You stay wiff me! I no wanna go!" Leo huffed, turning back to his toys.

Deeks took a calming breath, rubbing his hands together. He knew he was going to catch a lot of flak for being so late, especially from Sam, and Deeks still hadn't told them about having a son.

"Leo. Get dressed, we are leaving in five minutes." Deeks told him.
"No we not. I no get dwessed." Leo replied defiantly.

"Leonardo, get your clothes on now. If I come back in here and you aren't ready to walk out that door, those toys are gettin' put up in my closet for a week; is that what you want?" Deeks said firmly.

Leo jetted his lower lip out and shook his head. "No..." He replied.
"Alright then, hop to it." Deeks told him, walking out of the room and into the kitchen.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Kensi's number, praying she wasn't in the shooting range or the gym and that she'd answer.

Luckily for him, she must've had her phone in her hand; Kensi answered on the first ring.

"Deeks! Hey, you're late; everything ok?" Kensi answered, her voice full of concern.
"You worried about me, Fern?" The detective chuckled.

"What? No. Of course not. I'm worried about those around you, having to put up with you." She replied.

Deeks noted the double meaning in her words; she must've been around Sam and Callen. Maybe even Nell and Eric. He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face.

"Yea, no, everything's fine. Except for the defiant as hell three year old refusing to let his dad leave for work. He unplugged my alarm clock this morning! They say you pay for your upbringing, I'm startin' to regret my mischievous ways as a boy." Deeks chuckled lightly.

Kensi laughed on the other side of the line, and Deeks could sense the relief coming through the phone; she'd been worried about him and Leo.

Deeks liked that he and his son were important enough to Kensi that she worried about them.

"Wow, Deeks, blame the alarm clock, huh?" Kensi snorted.

"Yea, yea. Anyway, do you think you can cover for me? I'll be there in like, twenty minutes, tops. Just tell them I got stuck in traffic or something. But make it sound convincing, let's not forget the whole 'bad sushi' fiasco." Deeks smirked.

"Whatever, it's your fault!" Kensi replied, and her partner could practically feel her eyes rolling. She was good at keeping up appearances for phone calls; Kensi had been amazing enough to not even let on about Leo to the rest of the team.

"Thank you, partner. I'll be there soon." Deeks said sincerely.
"Yea, yea. Just get here, Deeks." Kensi replied, hanging up.

The detective shoved his phone back in his pocket and turned to see Leo sitting by the door with Monty, fully dressed. He smiled slightly and walked over to him, picking him up and hugging him slightly as they walked out the door.

"Thank you for getting ready for me, bud." Deeks said softly.
"Is you gonna be in twouble at work?" Leo asked quietly.

"I might be. But Kensi's gonna try to help me out of that. You can't mess with Daddy's alarm like that, ok? I know we wanna hang out, just the two of us-"

Leo interrupted him. "And Kens." He added.

Deeks smiled as he knocked on Mr. Jason's door. "And Kens. But I have to work, that's not an option, alright? We'll take about your little stunt this morning when I get home, ok? I love you, buddy. I can't stay, I gotta hit the road." The man finished, placing a light kiss on his son's temple as the door opened.

"A bit late this morning are we?" Mr. Jason smiled.
"Just a bit." Deeks chuckled.
"Well go on then, don't want that partner of yours to get mad." The older man smirked knowingly.

"No we don't." Deeks nodded, saying goodbye to Leo once more before turning and running to his car.

By the time Deeks had fought his way through the LA traffic, he was an hour late for work. He quickly grabbed his bag and made his way inside and into the bullpen, attracting the stares of all three of the other agents sitting there.

Kensi smiled at him as he passed her desk. He shot her a wink in return, in part to thank her for covering for him.

"You're late, Deeks." Sam growled, looking up from his paperwork. "Where've you been?" He demanded.

"Wow, I haven't even made it to my desk yet and already the hounding begins." Deeks said to no one in particular.

"Well when you show up an hour late people tend to wonder." Callen shrugged, more amused than anything.

"I told you guys, he had car trouble." Kensi rolled her eyes, turning back to her paperwork.

"I don't buy it." Sam commented.
"Of course not." Deeks mumbled. "Look, I'm sorry I'm late."
"Later than normal." Callen chuckled.

"See this is exactly what I've been saying; you're undisciplined. You get here later every day, rookie." Sam said firmly, pointing at Deeks.

"Maybe I'm just changing up my routine. Don't wanna get shot again." Deeks countered.

Kensi snorted, failing to stifle her laugh, and Callen smirked, watching the argument between his partner and the liaison.

Sam narrowed his eyes slightly. "You think that's something to joke about?"
"I'm not joking." Deeks shrugged.

"You're always joking. And that's another thing; never serious about anything." Sam snapped.

"Ok, look. I was an hour late today. Yea, alright, my bad. I'll admit it, I'm way later than I should've been. I had a difficult morning and things to deal with, but I'm here now. Apparently I haven't missed anything threatening LA or the world, so can we just drop it?" Deeks rolled his eyes, turning to is very large stack of paperwork that had been building up.

Before Sam could retort, Eric's famous whistle rang in their ears. "Your presence is required up in OPS, lady and gentlemen!" He announced before turning back.

"See that? You know what that is? It's perfect timing." Deeks said, shooting Kensi a smile as they walked up the stairs; his response was an eye roll with a quirking of her lips as she fought a smile back.

"So you handled that stuff?" Kensi arched an eyebrow.
"I did." Deeks nodded, and the subject was dropped.

Hetty watched from her desk with pursed lips as her agents made their way into the OPS center.

"Mr. Callen!" She called.

The senior agent in charge turned on his heel and walked straight to her office, no questions asked. He was used to it by now.

"You've got some hostility brewing in your team." Hetty declared.
"Not my team." Callen corrected her, but she waved it off.

"I'm switching things up today; you'll go with Ms. Blye and Mr. Deeks will accompany Mr. Hanna." She said firmly.

Callen hesitated. "Hetty, I'm really not sure that's a good idea. The two were at each other's throats even more than usual this morning." He informed her.

"I'm aware. Which is why we're going to nip this in the butt before it comes back to haunt us all. This team needs to be unified and I can't help but notice that it seems more and more like two sets of two instead of one set of four." Hetty replied.

"Kensi's on..." Callen started to object, going to say that she was on the senior agents' side, but even he couldn't honestly say that anymore. He had noticed the dynamics changing, and Kensi getting closer and closer to Deeks.

"I really don't think this is a good idea." Callen sighed.
"Deal with it, Mr. Callen. I've made up my mind." Hetty replied, leaving no room for further discussion.

After their debrief of yet another Drug Cartel case, Kensi volunteered herself and Deeks to go check out their witness's house.

"Actually Kensi, you're with me today. Deeks you're with Sam. You two go check out the witness's house; see if you can find his son. He refuses to cooperate until we find him, so the kid's important, alright? Kensi, we're going to the murder scene. See if our Cartel left behind anything." Callen announced.

"Um, I'm sorry what now?" Deeks asked, blinking slowly. Could his day get worse?

"No. G, don't play; it ain't funny." Sam shook his head, moving to walk out of OPS.

Callen held his hand up and stopped his partner from leaving. "Hetty's orders." He told his best friend.

"Why do I get stuck with Deeks? How come you get Kensi?" Sam rolled his eyes.

"Well you and Deeks being 'hostile' with each other is the reason for the switch up. Oh, and you're starting to whine just like Deeks." Callen smirked.

Sam glared at the senior agent in charge and rolled his eyes, walking out of OPS. Callen turned his attention to the other two, seeing hesitation on both of their faces. He arched an eyebrow at them, silently telling them to move it.

Deeks sighed, not believing his luck today. He turned to Kensi, knowing they only had a minute or two before the senior agents hurried them up and separated them. Deeks absolutely hated when he wasn't there to watch Kensi's back. It made him nervous and uneasy and it never worked as smoothly as it did when they were together.

"You be careful out there, alright?" Deeks said, hoping it came out lighter than he suspected it did.

Kensi smiled slightly, shifting on her feet and stuffing her hands in her back pockets. "Yea, you too. Try not to push Sam's buttons, ok?"

Deeks smirked. "Try not to make Callen sick with your driving or give him a headache with your techno." He teased.

"Oh ha ha, Shaggy. Don't make me shoot you." Kensi threatened, but they both knew she would never even consider it.

"You wouldn't do it." Deeks smirked knowingly.
"Kensi, c'mon we gotta go. Deeks, Sam will leave you." Callen called.

They nodded and with one last glance at Deeks, silently telling him to be careful, Kensi walked out of OPS. Deeks wasn't far behind her, and caught Callen's arm before he could leave too.

The senior agent turned and arched an eyebrow at the shaggy detective. Deeks paused for a moment, looking at his feet as he steeled his nerves to say what he needed to say.

"Watch out for her, will you? She's reckless and braver than she should be and she's just Wonder Woman, but take care of her for me please. She's my partner, I'm not really looking to get a new one." Deeks said

Callen wanted to smile and slap him on the back of his head. If these two didn't figure their thing out soon, He was going to lock them in a room and refuse to let them out until something was resolved. But he admired the younger man's bravery at voicing his concerns, knowing Callen could just as easily mock him for it.

"Don't worry, Kensi's a big girl. She'll be fine. And if she's not, I'll be there. You do the same for Sam, ok? I know you two are complete opposites and you're not getting along real well today, but don't let it interfere with the case, alright?" Callen replied.

"Alright, I won't. And thank you, Callen." Deeks nodded to the man, and jogged out of OPS and out towards the Challenger, trying to avoid being left behind.

Luckily for Sam and Deeks, the fourteen year old son of their witness to the murder case involving the Cartels was at home.

Deeks picked the lock -making Sam roll his eyes as he just wanted to kick it open- and the two had went in with their guns outstretched. The teenager, Jacob, freaked out when two adults burst into his room with guns.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in? Don't shoot me!" He yelled, protecting his face.

"Hey, kid, calm down. I'm a cop, my name's Marty Deeks. We're here to protect you. This is Special Agent Sam Hanna." Deeks said calmly.

"Why do I need protecting? I don't! I can take care of myself! I don't need you." Jacob snapped.

"Dude you're only fourteen, you still need some help." Deeks replied, before turning towards Sam.

"We can't just lock him up in the boatshed, his father might think that we'll dump the kid as soon as he helps us. If we put him under protective custody his father would work with us more. He might not if we just keep him at the boatshed." Deeks said.

Deeks thought for a minute. "Us having him at the boatshed doesn't really prove anything but the fact that he's alive. Putting him with protective custody at his house might make our witness more willing to cooperate if he feels his son is in a better position."

Sam phone rang, and he pulled his phone from his pocket. "It's Eric." He said, before turning away.

Deeks looked at Jacob as he waited for whatever new information Sam was getting. The kid looked scared, and nervous. There was a fear in his eyes that Deeks remembered all too well from his childhood. Being a kid and being afraid and not knowing what was going on was something the detective could sympathize. Jacob shifted on his feet and his hands were shaky as he nervously glanced out the window.

Deeks felt like keeping him in his house would offer more comfort than a strange place for the kid would.

"Eric says that they've got a lock on a potential suspect near us. Fits the witness's description. We gotta move now." Sam said as he walked back into the room.

"But what about him? We can't just take him with us to go run down a suspect, he could end up hurt." Deeks objected.

"There's a protective custody agent on the way, but the kid might run. And if he gets snatched we'll lose the witness's help and have a missing teenager on our hands." Sam said frustrated, knowing they needed to go. "We should probably just take him with us." He added.

"No, I don't think we should. I think he'd end up getting hurt, or see a shootout or something and end up mentally scarred. I'll talk to him, make sure he doesn't leave." Deeks objected.

Sam paused, fighting to not just overrule the liaison and do what he felt was right. "I'm putting you in charge of the kid. If you think you can talk him into staying then do it. But if he runs..." He warned, almost growling.

Deeks nodded and turned to Jacob. "Ok, here's how this is goin' down. There's an agent on his way, and he's gonna stay here with you, make sure you're safe. I need you to stay here. Don't leave the house. Don't open any doors or windows, anything. If you can't do that, we gotta take you with us." He explained.

"No, I don't wanna go with you. I just wanna stay here, at my house. I won't leave, I promise." Jacob said eagerly.

Deeks considered him for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, I'm trusting you." The detective told the teenager, who nodded back.

Hours later, back at OPS, the mission was buzzing; everyone busy and tense. The case was becoming even more intense, with two more murders connected to the same man from the same Cartel.

Everyone was on edge.

Deeks and Nell were going through files about this particular Cartel, Sam and Callen were looking through footage tapes of a building on the monitor in the bullpen; watching who entered an exited at the time period of the murder. Kensi was on the phone with an agent from the DEA.

Suddenly, Eric came running down the stairs, tablet in hand; a distressed look on his face.

"Guys, I just got off the phone with the agent in charge of Jacob's protection. When they got to his house, he wasn't there." Eric said.

"Where is he Eric?" Callen demanded.

"He got picked up; by some of the Cartel members." The techie sighed, showing a video of the teenager running down the street when a van stopped and snatched him. "We lost the van, and it hasn't been seen in a few hours. We have no idea where he is now." Eric explained.

Kensi hung up her phone, Callen's head dropped and he sighed heavily. Sam had an angry look on his face; the situation was reminding him of Dom. Suddenly, Sam slammed his hand down on the desk and yelled in frustration.

He drew everyone's attention.

The man turned and glared at Deeks, who was now looking between Kensi and Sam; unsure of what was happening. He'd been in a deep conversation with Nell, and hadn't heard Eric.

"See? You see? This is what happens when we let rookie LAPD make decisions. I knew we shouldn't have let him go. Now he's gone, Deeks. Got snatched up by the Cartel! This is on you!" Sam yelled.

"Sam, let's not do this." Kensi said calmly, but was ignored.

Deeks' eyes widened and his heart sped up at the thought of Jacob being kidnapped; it made him worry about Leo's safety, even though he was with Mr. Jason, who was a retired cop himself and could protect Leo if needed.

"He left the house? That doesn't make sense, Jacob was terrified when we even mentioned taking him from the house." Deeks shook his head.

"Well apparently he fooled you, Deeks. And he ran. And got himself taken by the Cartel. How you feelin' right now, rookie? Because this is your fault. If you would take things more seriously, and be a bit more responsible, we wouldn't be in this situation. But no, you wanted to be cool and do what the kid wanted!" Sam snapped.

Deeks was fed up with Sam questioning his character and his value to the team. He'd been with them for a long time now, Deeks figured he had long since earned respect from the team.

"Sam..." Callen said, stepped towards his partner in attempt to calm him down.

"And now that we don't have the kid, we don't have the witness's help! Without his help we barely have a leg to stand on in this case! This whole thing just got flushed down the toilet because you screwed up!" Sam finished.

"Sam, stop it!" Kensi snapped.

"You know what? Maybe he did run and maybe he did fool me, but it doesn't add up. Either the kid's a damn good actor, or something happened that we don't know about, because I saw how afraid he was Sam. You were on the phone and I watched him look outside with fear in his eyes. So no, I didn't want him to go out there with his fear; and we left his house and went straight into a gun fight and a high speed chase- not exactly where a kid should be!" Deeks said firmly.

"And how would you know where a kid should be? You can't even handle your own self most of the time. I shudder to think about what you would do to a kid. Kensi may think you'd be a good dad, but I don't. You'd screw a kid up, no doubt. You're not enough of a man to be a good father, Deeks!" Sam barked.

"SAM!" Kensi yelled, but the damage was already done.
"Sam!" Callen exclaimed, not believing his partner had gone so far.

She turned and looked at Deeks and could practically hear him shattering. His eyes glossed over and he looked as if he'd been kicked in the stomach. She wanted to strangle Sam in that moment.

The words rang over and over in Deeks' mind.

"You'd screw a kid up."
"You're not enough of a man to be a good father."

Words that he himself had thought more times than he could count. And here was Sam Hanna, Navy Seal and father himself, confirming his fears. Sam had his life together, he was a good dad. He must know who would also be a good dad.

"That is enough, Mr. Hanna!" Hetty yelled, marching into the bullpen.

Deeks quickly averted his gaze, turning away from the team; hands on his hips, he tried to contain the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. Anger, fear, desperation to be a good father, doubt that he ever would.

"We all have made mistakes, yourself included. We do not put blame on our own. We will find the boy; Amber alerts have been put out, and several agents are looking for him. Eric is also monitoring traffic cams. We will find him. And we will solve this case. But for now, I am ordering you all to get some sleep." Hetty said firmly.

Deeks didn't question it. Didn't even think about objecting. It was almost eleven at night and he needed to get out of there. He'd called Mr. Jason to tell him he was going to be late, and didn't know when he'd get there. The elder man had simply told him whenever worked for him would be just fine.

Deeks grabbed his bag and walked out of the mission, not daring to look back for fear of breaking down in front of the team. He didn't even turn around when he heard Kensi shouting after him.

Kensi realized that Deeks wasn't stopping and she ran after him; but he was already in his car and pulling out of the mission before she could get to him. She knew how deep those words cut into him, and it broke her heart.

She turned and stormed back into the mission, right up to Sam. "What the hell where you thinking? How could you say that to him? Do you even realize what you've just done?" She yelled.

Sam looked up from where he was packing his stuff up and sighed. "I was harsh, I know. But the kid is important in this case and now he's in the hands of the Cartel..."

"And it's not Deeks' fault! He made a judgment call and from what he says it sounded like the right one at the time. I feel like we're missing something here; it doesn't sound like Jacob would just leave. But that doesn't excuse what you just said to Deeks! You have no idea what that just did to him, Sam." Kensi snapped, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I'll apologize when we fix this mess." Sam replied, walking out.

Kensi shook her head, her brain and her heart at war with each other. Her heart wanted her to chase after Deeks and comfort him, but her brain told her that she needed sleep and needed to let him be for a while. It almost made her nervous, how badly she wanted to go to Deeks and comfort him.

She looked up to see Callen studying her closely. "You know something we don't, don't you?" He asked.

Deeks rushed back to his apartment, his hands gripping onto the wheel for dear life. As he pulled up, the detective ran a hand across his face; sighing deeply. Sam's words were still ringing in his mind as he slowly trudged up the stairs and over to Mr. Jason's apartment.

The elder man opened the door and smiled slightly. "He's been talking about you all day, Daddy this, or Daddy did that. Couldn't wait for you to get home, wouldn't even consider sleep until you got here."

Deeks smiled at this. "Really?" He asked softly.

Mr. Jason nodded and lead him inside to where Leo was sitting on the couch, yawning but awake nonetheless. The little boy turned and beamed when he saw Deeks.

"Daddy!" He smiled, getting up and running over to him.

Deeks scooped him up into his arms and held him tight, rubbing a hand through Leo's hair and kissing the side of his head. "Hey there, Peanut." Deeks said softly.

"I missed-ed you." Leo said, wrapping his arms around his father's neck.

"I missed you too...I had a really hard day and I missed my little buddy." Deeks chuckled, picking up the boy's bag. "Thank you, Mr. Jason. I'm sorry about work going so late..." Deeks sighed.

"It's not a problem, Marty. Anything you need I'm here." The elder man replied, and the two said goodbye.

Deeks sighed heavily as he carried Leo throughout the house, laying their bags in their respective rooms, but still not wanting to stop holding his son. Monty barked happily at the return of his humans, but Deeks paid him little attention aside from a quick rub on the dog's head.

The man lounge on the couch, kicking his feet up and carefully laying Leo in his arms to lay with him. "Did you have a good day?" Deeks asked quietly running a hand across his son's back.

"Yup. I sowwy I was bad dis mowning." Leo said quietly.
"It's alright, Leo. But don't do it again, ok?" The man replied, somewhat firmly.
"Otay, Daddy." The little boy nodded against his dad's shoulder.

Leo looked up and saw Monty sitting by himself and frowned. "C'mere Monteee!" He called sweetly.

The dog came running and jumped up onto the couch, laying on Deeks' feet, one paw stretched out to touch Leo-who smiled happily and snuggled back up to his dad.

"You know I love you, right Leo?" Deeks asked softly.

"Oh yea! You lub me wots! I lub you too, Daddy." Leo smiled, planting a kiss to Deeks' cheek.

"Thank you, son." Deeks smiled softly.

Suddenly, a knock on the door broke their peaceful silence. Deeks groaned softly, not wanting to get up. But Monty jumped up and ran to the door, barking happily and excitedly.

"Well he only does that for one person..." Deeks sighed, knowing immediately it was Kensi.

"Deeks? It's Kensi! Open the door." She demanded.

The man sighed and carefully got off the couch, walking towards the door.

"Who's here, Daddy?" Leo mumbled against his shoulder.
"Kens." Deeks replied.
"Oh! I wike her." Leo yawned.
"Me too." Deeks smiled lightly.

He opened the door and Kensi was standing there, looking beautiful as always. Her heart clenched at the sight of Deeks all cuddled with Leo. Monty was jumping happily at her feet, so she gave him kisses and rubbed his ears.

"Hey..." She said quietly.

"Hey there, partner." Deeks replied. "Come in." He added, and made his way into the living room. He sat down, but she remained standing.

Kensi shifted nervously on her feet. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You know everything that Sam said was complete and utter b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t." Kensi told him, mindful of the little ears in the room.

"Was it?" Deeks sighed, looking away.

"Yes, Deeks. You are an amazing father. You've done such a great job handling working and taking care of him. And you love him to death and he loves you." Kensi said softly.

The detective was quiet for a moment, thinking. "I just want him to be happy, and taken care of. I try my best to make it happen." He said, turning his head to look at her.

Kensi smiled. "Well you make it happen, Deeks. Don't let what Sam said in anger make you doubt yourself. You're doing great."

"Thank you, Fern. You, uh, you didn't have to come after me you know?" Deeks told her.

"I know. But I wanted to. I wanted to tell you he was wrong." She shrugged.
"More like you wanted to say you were right." Deeks smirked.

Kensi practically let out a sigh of relief; he was teasing her like usual, so he must be somewhat alright.

"Daddy I sweepy..." Leo suddenly mumbled, breaking the silence.

"I know, buddy. I'm sorry I kept you up so late. Go to sleep, Leo. I got you." Deeks whispered softly,

Kensi suddenly felt awkward; she was intruding, she didn't belong there. "I'm gonna go; you need to get him to bed and I need to get some sleep myself, so..." She trailed off.

Deeks nodded and stood up. Kensi suddenly wrapped her arms around Deeks, and the detective wrapped on of his around her. He pulled her to him gently into his embrace. He drew strength from her, holding onto the confidence she had in him.

Kensi believed in him.
And that was all he really needed.

wow, so my word count is now at 5,247! that is by far the longest chapter so far. Question, you guys prefer longer chapters? because i can totally do that! if not, i can break them up. either way! hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! and i am so excited for what's coming up next, hopefully you are too! more soon!

(p.s. it's storming at my house, and i'm scared! haha!)

bye friends!

xox