I lose complete track of time during summer, and truth be told I hadn't realized it'd been so long since i updated! Sorry for the delay, thank you for your continued support and lovely reviews/follows/favs :] you guys utterly rock!

hope you like it!

Chapter 21

It didn't matter that he'd been on an undercover assignment for several stressful, restless weeks; Deeks was a surfer, and surfers woke up with the sun. So when the sun rose and filled the room with its bright warmth Deeks was awake.

The first thing that hit his senses was her smell; it was everywhere, his pillows, his covers, even on him. Sunshine and gunpowder Deeks thought with a smile as he slowly woke up.

When he opened his eyes, Deeks' smile grew wider. Kensi was laying full starfish mode, covering all four quadrants of the bed. She had an arm and a leg thrown over him as he laid on his back, with one of his arms holding her close to his side.

"You are such a cuddler." He whispered with a smirk, carefully brushing hair away from her face.

She subconsciously squeezed him tighter, trying to retaliate in true Badass Blye fashion. Even if it was in an adorably sleepy retaliation.

He craned his neck to see over her and at the clock on his side table. His side Deeks thought, rolling his eyes and smiling at how she still claimed it. He settled back down after seeing they had plenty of time before they truly had to be up to get to work on time.

Work.

Deeks sighed slightly, knowing he had important things to do today. Vital, really. And he didn't know if he was truly ready to face them. When Kensi moaned quietly and nuzzled her face into his chest, Deeks immediately froze.

"You cannot do that right now, Blye, or else it will not turn out well for me." He hissed quietly.

One does not simply sleep cuddled up with Kensi Blye and not have certain...reactions.

He had to get up. That was the only option he had because if he didn't, Kensi was going to be feeling exactly what reactions Deeks was having.

And Deeks wasn't willing to risk one of her firm groin kicks.

He tried to get up slowly, but she whimpered, honest to God whimpered (he was so going to use that as blackmail someday) and he froze, conflicted. Deeks wanted nothing more than to stay right in that bed with her. He'd missed her so much when he had to be...Max, he thought disgustedly.

"Just one more minute." He whispered softly, positioning her outstretched appendages from meeting his appendages.

Last night had been the best night's sleep he'd ever gotten, never mind it was only for a few hours since he'd gotten home late last night; he really didn't want to get up even though he needed to. But Deeks allowed himself a few more moments to revel in the feel of her in his arms. She was warm and soft in his arms and all he ever wanted. Excluding Leo of course.

Leo, Deeks thought with a grin. He'd see Leo today. Looking around, finally being back at home in his apartment, Kensi by his side –right where he wanted her to be-, and not being terrified at the thought of Leo seeing him, told Deeks just what he needed to know, and brought a grin to his face.

He'd chased Max Gentry out of his head and away for good this time.

With that thought, Deeks knew he was ready to face all the things in his life; reuniting with Leo, dealing with Bates and Hetty, maybe –hopefully- getting somewhere with Kensi; picking up where they'd left off, he hoped.

But when she shifted again, closer to his reaction, Deeks knew first things first: keep the family jewels intact and away from Kensi's killer kick.

He slowly extracted himself from her grip, carefully sliding a pillow into her arms to make up for his missing body. Her arm and leg curled around it and Kensi went back to doing her little piglet snore she swore she didn't do. Deeks grinned and turned, grabbing his wetsuit, deciding he'd been away from his ocean for far too long.

Before he'd left the room, Deeks stopped and turned to look at her. He knew she would never forgive him if he just left. The man quickly found a piece of paper and scribbled a message onto it, grabbing a Twinkie from the box next to his bed –really Kensi? He thought with a grin.- he set it on the pillow next to her head that she wasn't clutching. With one more glance at her looking so peaceful in his bed, Deeks smiled and walked out quietly.

The first thing that hit her senses was the fact that, no, it was not a body she was curled up to, it was a pillow. Jerking awake, Kensi looked around and the smile that'd been on her face while sleeping quickly vanished.

Wasn't he home? Kensi thought quietly.

Then her eyes fell on the piece of paper with his unmistakable handwriting and the Twinkie to accompany it and Kensi smiled softly. "So you are still here." She laughed quietly, picking up the note.

Kensalina,

The waves are so lonely without me, thought I'd go give 'em some lovin'. Don't worry, Fern, I'm back. And might I add that I CANNOT believe you actually have a stash of Twinkies by my bed?

Be back soon
Deeks.

P.S. you look good in my bed ;)

Kensi grinned and rolled her eyes at the note, ripping open the delicious snack cake and immediately devouring it. She couldn't help but feel a bit relieved; not only was he really home, he'd been thoughtful enough not to leave without telling her where he was going.

It made her heart flutter a little more than it should.

Kensi couldn't remember a time she'd slept so good. It was almost funny how she'd went from lying awake for hours, to falling almost straight to sleep with his arms wrapped around her. It both comforted and unnerved her; he had such a strong effect on her and she didn't quite know how to handle it.

Deciding she should go ahead and get a jump start at getting ready, Kensi got up and headed towards the shower; hoping it would help clear her mind.

Kensi had just finished towel drying her hair and getting dressed when Deeks walked back into the apartment; he'd stripped from his wetsuit at the beach and was now wearing trunks and a t-shirt that clung to his muscles in a way that made it very difficult for Kensi to look away. Thankfully she spotted the two cups of coffee in his hands and gave her something to distract herself with.

"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty." Deeks teased.

"Coffee! Oh thank God." Kensi practically moaned, immediately taking the delicious drink from his hand and turning away. She didn't need Deeks to catch her staring, it would only serve to feed his ego.

Not that it was starving.

"Good morning to you too, Kensi. Yea, I'm doing absolutely fine this morning, thanks for asking. Is this coffee for you? Of course! Figured you might need some." Deeks said teasingly.

"Yea, yea, Shaggy. Thank you." Kensi smirked over her shoulder.
"You're welcome, Fern." Deeks grinned back at her, following her into the kitchen.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready? Do something with that hair maybe?" She teased, jumping up and sitting on the edge of the counter.

Deeks chuckled and leaned against the counter across from her. "These locks? Please, they are styled to utter perfection by pillow and wave combination. The most I gotta do is run my hand through it one good time and BOOM!" He said dramatically, clapping his hands together; effectively making her laugh.

"Oh my God you are completely crazy." Kensi shook her head.

"That may be, Blye, but you and I both know you love these locks." He smirked.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, refusing to admit that he was right.

"You know it's true, Kensalina don't lie." Deeks grinned, moving closer to her.

Kensi couldn't help but smile as she inhaled his salty seawater smell after surfing, and couldn't help but think it was a little bit perfect on him. He hadn't smelled like that last night and Kensi'd missed it.

Deeks smiled up at her and his heart clenched at how domestic they were being; waking up next to her, going surfing and coming home to find her up and about, drinking coffee together, and just being near her as they prepared for their day.

He wanted this every day.

Kensi melted a bit at the intensity of his gaze; she didn't know exactly what was running through his mind but she was pretty sure she could guess pretty close.

They were more comfortable around each other than Kensi had ever realized. The thought made her smile grow a bit wider. She also didn't realize they'd been inching closer and closer to each other.

And then her phone rang and the spell was broken.

Deeks sighed softly and backed away. Kensi frowned a bit and picked up the offending device. "It's OPS, must have an early morning case." She explained.

"I'll go get dressed." Deeks nodded.

"It's Kensi, go." She answered seriously. OPS didn't often call in the morning, and when they did it wasn't to be taken lightly.

"Hey, Kens. Hetty wants everyone here." Nell explained.
"Everything okay?" Kensi inquired.

"I'm not really sure anything's wrong. She doesn't seem like there's a crisis at hand or something but I'm not sure what's going through her mind. This is Hetty we're talking about." The analyst explained, dropping her voice a bit at the end.

Kensi smiled and laughed softly. "Alright, I'll be there soon. Oh hey, how'd everything go with Leo last night?" She inquired.

"Oh he is so adorable, Kensi. Can I keep him?" Nell begged.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind. But I'm pretty sure you can't keep him." Kensi laughed again.

"Dang it." The other woman replied laughing. They exchanged a few more words before hanging up. Kensi turned to find Deeks waiting on her.

"What's up?" He inquired.

"Hetty has apparently called for our presence. Well... I'm not sure if that includes you or not. I'm assuming you didn't check in." Kensi explained, slipping her hands in her pockets.

"No, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know I'm back. I swear she knows everything." Deeks chuckled. "But, I have to get down to the police department. Talk to Bates. Get my ass chewed. The usual." He rolled his eyes.

"You want me to go with you?" Kensi offered.

He smiled but shook his head. "Nah, I uh... I don't want you around them. They're not the friendliest of people when it comes to NCIS; they feel like we steal their cases and get the glory. And they're especially unfriendly when it comes to me so..." He trailed off, shrugging.

Kensi couldn't help but smile when he referred to NCIS as 'we'. Maybe, she hoped, he was close to leaving the LAPD.

"So, I'll meet you at OSP later then?" She asked.
"Sounds good." Deeks smiled.

And the two left the apartment and parted ways for the moment; both extremely reluctant to let the other out of their sight.

Deeks let out a long breath as he sat in the parking lot of the LAPD. He didn't want to go inside, but he knew he couldn't move forward if he didn't. Deeks knew what he had to do, and he picked up his cell phone.

"Mr. Deeks! How wonderful of you to call." Hetty answered immediately.

"You already knew I was done with my case, didn't you." Deeks replied, more of a statement than a question.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this call, Mr. Deeks?" Hetty inquired with a chuckle, answering Deeks' almost question.

Hetty always knew, he rolled his eyes.

"That paperwork you gave me... it still valid?" He asked.
"All it needs is your signature, Mr. Deeks, and you're ready to go." She explained.

"Me signing them... does it mean I'm just with NCIS, or I'm a permanent member of your team?" Deeks asked nervously, thinking back to that conversation he'd had with Bates.

"Why, Mr. Deeks, do you really believe I would allow you to be a part of NCIS without having you on my team?" Hetty asked, surprised.

The man sighed with relief. "Well... I didn't at first until I'd had a conversation with Bates hinting otherwise..." He explained.

"I don't believe Bates came up with that alone... I may need to have a talk with one Owen Granger about messing with my team again. Believe you me, Mr. Deeks, should you choose to turn in that paperwork signed, you would be a part of my team I would not allow to be taken." Hetty replied.

Deeks couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Hetty." He said sincerely.

"Of course, Mr. Deeks. And did you really think I'd break up one of the best partnerships I've ever seen?" She inquired.

Something about the way she said partnership made Deeks think Hetty really did know everything.

"I should go." Deeks chuckled.
"I shall see you soon, Mr. Deeks." She replied, hanging up.

With a smile and the shake of his head Deeks got out of his car with a file in his hand and walked confidently into the building; shuffling through the busy men and women moving about. He was so close to Bates' office, he almost made, when he ran into Officer Derek.

Not one of Deeks' favorite people.

"Well look what the cat dragged in." The man smirked.

Deeks sighed slightly. "Hey, Derek. Look I'd love to stand around and chat, really I would, but I've gotta talk to Bates."

"Yea, sure. Gotta go get your ass chewed. Heard that case got pretty messy." Derek sneered.

"I got it done though. Something you boys couldn't do so I wouldn't be so smug, man." Deeks snapped, moving to go around him.

"So how come you never told us about your pretty little partner?" Derek inquired.

Deeks froze and turned to face him. "How do you know about her?" He asked.

"Oh Kensi dropped by while you were gone. Her and I had a real nice chat. Think we'll do it again sometime too." Derek grinned.

Deeks felt his blood boil at the thought of Derek and Kensi. He let out a long slow breath to calm himself, knowing Derek would do anything –say anything- to get a rise out of him. "Pretty sure Kensi would kick your ass before wanting to spend any time around you. If you'll excuse me." Deeks said firmly, going around him and into Bates' office.

He closed the door firmly, setting his eyes on the man responsible for taking him away from his son and his partner for weeks. Bates looked up surprised, before realizing it was Deeks and setting the paper in his hand down.

"About time you came around. You were supposed to go to debrief when you got back." Bates said firmly.

"Yea, well I didn't." Deeks replied just as firm, striding across the office to stand tall in front of the man. He dropped the file onto the man's desk and looked up. "That is the full report, worked on it when I couldn't sleep at night during the case. Everything you need is right there. Anything else you need? Actually, you know what? Don't answer that." Deeks said disgustedly.

"Deeks, I'm impressed. Paperwork in on time for once." Bates smirked.
"Yea, and it's the last time." The blonde haired man replied.

Bates' face fell. "Wait... excuse me?" He inquired.

Without breaking eye contact, Deeks pulled his gun from its holster and his badge from its place on his belt. He carefully placed his gun on the desk and without a glance to the badge he'd held proudly for years, he dropped it next to the gun.

"Wait, Deeks, we can talk about this." Bates immediately scrambled, standing up.

"No I don't think we can Bates. You see, I have actually found a place I belong. A place where people actually want me there and respect the work I do; something I've never had here. Not from the cops, and not from you.

"You think I need you but I don't. You need me but tough shit, Lt. I'm gone. You're looking at a Los Angeles NCIS Agent. And it feels damn good to say that. And remember if you need anything, don't call me." Deeks said firmly, turning to walk out.

"You don't wanna do this! You won't last a month over at NCIS! You'll come crawling back here and I swear you'll be a beat cop." Bates yelled.

Deeks turned, his hand on the doorknob as he opened the door. "I've lasted years at NCIS, Bates, I just haven't realized I didn't need to have ties here anymore. Good luck replacing me, I'm sure that'll happen." Deeks smirked, and he walked out without another word.

As he walked out of the building, Deeks couldn't help but feel lighter. He didn't have to put up with the LAPD crap anymore. A small part of him laughed because he technically wasn't an agent yet, but he didn't need Bates to know that.

"I'm technically unemployed." He chuckled.

Deeks was a little sad, however, at having to leave his gun on Bates' desk. But he wasn't allowed to keep it so he'd just have to deal with getting a new one from NCIS. It was strange, he thought as he drove towards OSP, not being a cop.

But he was excited about being an agent.
Being an agent with Kensi Blye as his partner.

Back in Bates' office, he sank into his chair, shocked. His best cop and best detective had just quit. He had so many cases he needed Deeks' input on, but now that wasn't an option.

He was screwed.

Then an office worker peeked her head in. "Um, Lt. Bates? There's a phone call for you on line one." She told him.

"Who is it?" He inquired.

"A Ms. Lange." The woman explained.

Bates' eyes widened and the color drained from his face.
Oh yea. He was screwed.

"So does none of us know what this is about?" Kensi asked, looking around the bullpen at the team. They all shook their heads and shrugged helplessly, all as clueless as the next.

"We've been sitting here for half an hour, surely if it was bad Hetty would've told us something by now." Sam reasoned.

Callen nodded. "It must not be as bad as we're thinking it to be."

Suddenly they heard the doors open and footsteps echoing in the tunnel. The boys turned curiously along with Nell, but Kensi smiled slightly; she already knew who was walking into the bullpen.

"Hey guys." Deeks smiled calmly, hands shoved in his pockets.
"Deeks!" Nell exclaimed, rushing to give him a hug.
"Howdy Velma." He chuckled.

"Well look who's back." Callen smirked, he and Sam both moving to get hugs from the shaggy man.

"The Shag Master has returned." Sam chuckled.
"Nice to see you too, Sam." Deeks smiled.

Then he turned to Kensi, who'd yet to move, sitting perched on the edge of her desk. His smile turned into a grin as he looked at her. He stepped towards her, wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off of her feet, spinning her around.

"Deeks put me down!" Kensi immediately shrieked.

He laughed and set her on her feet but didn't let her leave his hold. She eyed him cautiously, not knowing what exactly he was up to.

"Aw, what's the matter, Fern, didn't you miss me?" He pouted.
"Absolutely not." She teased, grinning.

Sam and Callen stood behind them, and simulatenously coughed "Liar" very loudly, making Deeks' grin grow wider.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for taking care of Leo for me. I'm not sure what I'd have done if I didn't have the peace of mind to know you'd keep him safe for me." Deeks told her sincerely.

His words surprised her. "Of course, Deeks. Don't mention it. He was great, really great. He missed you a lot." She smiled.

As if he could tell they were talking about him, Leo came running down the stairs with Eric on his heels. The little boy saw Deeks and immediately gasped. "DADDY!" He yelled.

Deeks froze and his face melted, his arms slipping from Kensi's body. He rubbed a hand across his face, hoping to keep the tears he felt coming at bay. His son was beaming from ear to ear and he was just as perfect as he'd been when Deeks had left.

Leo ran straight towards Deeks and the man dropped to his knees as the little boy flung himself into his arms. Deeks wrapped one arm around his little back and the other cradled his head protectively. Leo snuggled deep into the embrace happily as Deeks rocked them back and forth.

As much as he tried, Deeks couldn't help the few tears that rolled down his face. Even though he'd tried to keep Max from thinking about Leo, a part of Deeks' subconscious had been so worried about him.

"My boy.." Deeks said softly.
"Hi Daddy." Leo grinned against the man's shoulder.

"Hey buddy... I missed you so much." Deeks said.

Leo pulled away and places his hands on either of Deeks' cheeks, smooshing them into a funny face. "I miss you wots too Daddy." Leo pouted.

Deeks chuckled and placed kisses all over the little boy's face, making him squeal happily. "I love you, so much." Deeks told him.

"I wove you too, Daddy. Me and Kens had so much fun! We pway and habed ice cweam and Nelly pwayed wiff me too!" Leo informed him.

"Really? I bet Kensi took excellent care of you." Deeks grinned.
"Oh yea." Leo nodded.

"Awwww." Nell cooed.

Kensi's heart melted as she saw Leo talking a million miles an hour telling his dad everything that'd happened since he'd been gone. The look on Deeks' face was priceless; she didn't think she'd seen him this happy ever.

The two of them together tugged at her heart strings and made Kensi want to hug them both.

Hetty walked up with something behind her back, smiling. "Welcome home, Mr. Deeks." She greeted.

"Hey Hetty, thank you." Deeks smiled back, standing up but keeping Leo tucked closely into him. The little boy wrapped his arms around his legs happily.

"I believe you have something for me?" She inquired.

"Yes. Yes I do." Deeks nodded.

He went to move but Leo refused to let go, dropped to sit on his foot; completely wrapped around Deeks' left leg. The man grinned and carefully walked with him clinging to him, moving slowly to his desk. He pulled out the file and quickly turned to the back page, scribbling his signature and handing it to Hetty.

"I should've done this a long time ago." Deeks admitted, handing over the file.

"These things have a way of working themselves out in due time, Mr. Deeks." Hetty smiled.

"What's going on?" Kensi asked.
"Was that..." Callen trailed off, pointing to the file.

"Welcome to NCIS, Agent Marty Deeks." Hetty grinned, handing Deeks his new badge and a gun.

The entire team looked stunned as Deeks took the items from Hetty proudly.

Deeks' eyes brightened as he held the new badge; it felt right somehow, in a way his LAPD badge no longer had. His eyes shifted to his gun and his eyes widened as he saw it truly was his gun; the same one he'd left in Bates' office.

"Hetty, how'd you get this? I left it with Bates with my LAPD badge." Deeks asked.

"Oh the Lt. and I had a little chat." Hetty smiled.
"Thank you, for everything, Hetty." Deeks replied sincerely.

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Deeks. I'm glad to have you as a permanent agent on my team." She said.

"Congrats, man!" Sam smiled, slapping him on the back as Deeks holstered his gun.

"Welcome to NCIS officially." Callen smirked.
"It's about time!" Nell beamed, hugging him.

Nell and Eric were talking about how excited they were but Deeks didn't hear them. His attention was on Kensi and how she was smiling proudly at him. Something about the fact that she was proud of him made Deeks swell with confidence. He liked when he had her approval.

He slipped away from the Wonder Twins and stood in front of her. "Congrats, partner." She smiled, slipping her arms around his neck.

"Thank you. Feels good." Deeks grinned, hugging her back.

"Daddy! Does dis mean you not a cop no mores?" Leo asked.

"Nope, I'm not a cop anymore buddy. I'm an agent like the rest of the team." Deeks explained.

Leo thought for a moment, before sticking his little thumb up. "Cool Daddy! Now yous a supah hewo team!" He clapped. The team laughed and Deeks ruffled the boy's hair.

"Oh, superhero, that reminds me! Hey Kens, we looked everywhere for his little Batman toy but we couldn't find it. He thinks he left it in your car." Nell said.

"It probably is." Kensi nodded.
"Ooh! Can we get it, Kens?" Leo pleaded, sticking his bottom lip out.

"Sure." Kensi smiled, unable to say no to that face.

"Hey, I'll get it. I should probably check and see if he's got any other toys in there and switch the car seat back into my car." Deeks offered.

"Oh... yea, sounds good." Kensi nodded, handing him her keys almost reluctantly.

"Be right back." Deeks smiled, and he and Leo walked out to her car and started picking up the toys and threw them over into Deeks' car.

As he was attempting to get the car seat placed back into his car, Leo called out to him again. "Daddy I can't find it!" He yelled.

"One second, Leo and I'll find it for ya!" Deeks called back, successfully getting the car seat back in place.

He walked over to Kensi's car and started feeling around under the seats in search of the precious Batman toy. Deeks leaned over the front seats and checked in the passenger floorboard, his hand feeling all around.

He slipped suddenly and his finger got cut by a small card. Deeks hissed and sucked on the cut, curiously picking up the offending card with his other hand. His eyes widened and he felt his blood boil again as he saw the name on the card.

Officer Derek.

There was even a scribbled note for her to call him, and that he'd enjoyed their chat.

Deeks had thought the man was lying. But apparently, Derek had been truthful, much to the shaggy man's surprise. For the life of him, Deeks couldn't figure out why Kensi had kept his card.

Had they met up again since whenever that day was?
Did she like him?
Was she seeing him?

Jealousy flowed through his veins as he shoved the card into his pocket, and found the Batman toy hiding between the seats like Kensi's Twinkie wrappers. He grabbed it and handed it to Leo –who cheered happily and ran back inside- but he couldn't shake this horrible jealous feeling.

What was she even doing at the LAPD that day to begin with? Deeks asked himself. He didn't wanna lose Kensi, especially not to Derek. What could she possibly see in him, Deeks thought, frustrated.

If they'd had a chat before, and then maybe met up again that'd be almost like two dates, he realized. And Kensi didn't do second dates.

All rationality left Deeks' mind as he thought of Kensi, his Kensi on a date with anyone else. That was unacceptable.

Kensi was his.
And he needed her to know that.

ooh, jealous Deeks! more Leo fluff is to be expected from next chapter as is more jealous Deeks. It'll be fabulous :] hope you guys liked this chapter! drop me a review and lemme know!

xox