AN: Another big thanks to everyone who is continuing to read and send supportive reviews and PMs. Things are continuing to improve in real life, but still taking up most of my time and keeping me from writing as much as I would like. This chapter is basically the second half of the last chapter - the background of Kensi/Deeks life leading up to 'today.' I apologize for the length; it got a little away from me, but I didn't want to split it up. Because 'today' is in March 2016, it was important to show the evolution of Kensi/Deeks's relationship, Deeks's interactions with the rest of the team and the ongoing storyline, so even if the snippets seem off topic to the story, they each serve a role. In the next chapter we'll get back to answering some questions.
"So, what happened while you waited?" Nell asks.
"We planned for today," Deeks says. He glances at Kensi and they exchange a smile. "And we lived our lives..."
July 2014
After reading Kensi into the assignment, Hetty dismissed Kensi and Deeks for the weekend.
Deeks watched his partner quietly as he followed her back to their desks.
He retrieved his shoulder bag from his own desk and turned to find her staring at him. He cocked his head. "You good?"
She nodded. "It's just...a lot."
He nodded his understanding. "'A lot' like you need the weekend to process everything? Or 'a lot' like you'll let your partner take you out for dinner because he's really sorry he's had to lie to you all this time?"
She smiled softly at him. "Dinner sounds nice, Deeks. But you know you have nothing to make up for. This job... I know you didn't choose to keep anything from me."
Oh, how he loved her for understanding so implicitly. "Okay, so how about dinner because you're just an awesome partner?"
Her smile widened. "Well, I can't argue with that."
He smiled back. "Nope. You really can't."
She picked up her bag and together they walked toward their cars. "Instead of dinner out, can we get takeout? Then we can talk about all this a little more."
"Of course. Your place or mine?"
"How about yours? Then you don't need to go home first to check on Monty."
They called in their order from the parking lot so it was ready to be picked up by the time they got to the Thai place around the corner from Deeks's apartment. And after a quick walk for Monty, they settled on Deeks's couch for a late dinner.
"So," Kensi started.
"Yeah," Deeks said.
She sighed. "I can't believe you've been part of this for so long."
"Most of the time it's not really anything. It's just waiting."
"And putting your life on hold."
"Well, there is that."
"I mean, you can't become an agent..."
"I also can't move," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "Not that I want to move, but if I did, I can't."
"Why can't you move?"
He smirked. "You know those fake documents and money Hetty told you about?"
Kensi nodded.
"I buried them under the bush beside my front door."
She laughed out loud at his words, even rewarding him with her snort-laugh. "You didn't!"
"I did! And you just wait, Kensalina. One day, that is going to pay off. They're going to find them and the forensic guys will know it's been buried for years. And that will look super duper suspicious."
"What if they don't find it?"
"I will literally be devastated."
"You're crazy," she told him, but her smile and her eyes told him she was right there with him.
He swallowed hard as he stared at her for a long moment. He could let this go or he could step up now. He took a deep breath and then slowly released it to calm himself. "Hey Kens, there's one other part of my life I was putting on hold."
She met his eyes.
And just like that neither of them were joking anymore.
"Deeks..." She breathed.
He placed his takeout container down on the coffee table and gently prised hers out of her hands to do the same. He then took her hands in his own, threading their fingers together.
"The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you," he whispered.
"You would never."
"But I did. I let it go too far. I let my feelings for you overshadow what I would one day be asked to do..."
"I don't understand."
He squeezed her hands.
"Hetty wouldn't let me bring you in. And if you weren't read in, I was looking at a future where one day I would have to look you in the eye and admit to treason; where one day I would have to break every ounce of trust you had in me for the sake of this case. I was going to have to convince you I was guilty."
She stared at him with naked understanding. "That's why you backed off," she whispered her realization, more to herself than to him.
He nodded. "That's why I should never have allowed anything to happen in the first place. When this whole assignment started I..."
"You what?"
He shook his head.
"You what, Deeks?" She asked, a little more forcefully.
He shrugged. "I couldn't foresee a time where I would fall for you and you may actually feel the same way."
She dropped his hands, but he didn't have a chance to be concerned, because she reached up to grasp the collar of his shirt, leaned in as she tugged him closer, and kissed him. His own hands found her middle while hers slid back from his jaw to bury into his hair.
"I definitely feel the same way," she whispered when they pulled back from the kiss.
He smiled and playfully rubbed his nose against hers before releasing her. "I'm really glad to know that."
"So, this assignment...it's why you backed off. It's why you've been so...inconsistent?"
He leaned his forehead against hers. Everything was easier with her close. "I'm so sorry, Kens. After you got back from Afghanistan, all I wanted was to hold you and never let go. Walking away like that was the last thing I wanted to do. But knowing what the end result would be, I couldn't set us up for me to break your heart like that. I tried to be vague and hopeful when I walked away."
Kensi laughed. "Vague is right. Do you know how many nights I've spent trying to figure out what the hell you were trying to say?"
He lifted his forehead from hers and ran a hand through his hair. "I was trying to say 'I don't want to hurt you' and 'Please still want me when this is over.'"
"Using knives, raccoons and third hearts?"
"I'm pretty sure it was you who brought up my third heart."
She laughed again, but it was a freeing laugh as she let go of months of pent up frustration.
"Honestly, Kens, I was grasping at straws. Hetty kept brushing me off and I didn't know what else to do. You were my priority; I couldn't hurt you. I couldn't set us up for a future where I would have to hurt you like that."
"And now?"
"I could still never hurt you."
She smiled and shook her head. "No, I mean now that I'm read in... Does this change things?"
"It changes everything."
"We can...talk about our thing?"
He reached for her hands again. "We can talk about our thing," he agreed.
"No more stupid metaphors?"
Deeks grinned. "No more stupid metaphors."
"Okay, then." She leaned forward to retrieve their takeout containers and passed him his. She then scooted closer into his side and settled against him.
Deeks followed her lead in continuing to eat his late dinner as they focussed their attention back to the movie playing on the television. But he couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the night. Not when they finished their dinner and Kensi went hunting for the ice cream she knew he kept in his freezer just for her. Not when they fell asleep together on the couch. And he was pretty sure he was even still smiling when they woke up together the following morning.
August 2014
Two Petty Officers had been found dead in an alley, both with relatively significant amounts of cash in their pockets.
"Fourteen hundred and sixteen-fifty," Eric said through the phone Kensi held on speaker between her and Deeks as they stood in the alley the Petty Officers had been found in the previous night.
"Those are oddly specific amounts," Kensi commented as she and Deeks exchanged a look.
"Either far too much or not nearly enough for clubbing, depending on where they planned to go clubbing," Deeks said.
"There are no clubs around here, are there?"
"Let me check..." Eric trailed off and they could hear typing. "Nope, not for several blocks. And the closest ones are the cheap variety. Five dollar cover. Four dollar drinks."
"Are the bills sequential?"
"Nope."
"Breakdown?"
"Mostly hundreds and fifties. Some twenties and tens."
"Any chance they're fake?"
"Nope. Very real. And a mix of years and versions."
"So, not from a bank. We know they were going to use it to gamble, so the chance of them having won from a different gambling establishment is..."
"Very low," Kensi finished his thought.
"It almost seems like they...were paid for something?"
"For doing something or selling something?" Kensi questioned.
"Eric, we're going to walk the street and see if we can see something. We'll check in when we're done."
"Copy that."
Kensi pocketed her phone as they walked towards the street. "So...maybe they sold something at an auction or..."
"Or a pawn shop," Deeks said, pointing towards a pawn shop he spotted across the street and a few store fronts over.
"What are we waiting for?"
They entered together, Kensi first and Deeks right behind. Deeks immediately clocked the two guys behind the counter and knew he was going to have to tread carefully.
Kensi, due to no fault of her own, was completely oblivious as her hand reached towards her back pocket for her badge. But changing as the environment changed was what they did best. Deeks cut off her hand's movement by grabbing it with his own, making it appear as if she had been reaching back for him in the first place. Kensi slowed as he threaded their fingers together and shot him what looked like a happy smile, but he knew it was her way of telling him she was letting him take the lead.
Both men were staring at them, one much more cautiously than the other, so Deeks strode up to them with purpose, not wanting to look like he was hesitating. He was still searching for a cover story when he spotted a tray of jewellery behind the counter and he was suddenly reminded of one of his and Kensi's earliest undercover assignments ever.
"Can we help you?" The man to the right asked. He was a little over six feet, with short blond hair and dark eyes.
Deeks nodded. "We're looking for an engagement ring." He smiled at his partner.
Kensi played her part well, smiling back at him before turning to the man as she leaned into Deeks. "Something old-fashioned, that has its own story," she added, the best explanation possible to explain why they would be looking for an engagement ring in a pawn shop.
"Ah, well, congratulations."
"Thank you," Deeks and Kensi said together.
"Let's see what we have for you," he said, crouching down to pull the display of rings out from under the counter. He laid the display down. "Not a lot of engagement rings, I'm afraid. These are pieces usually kept in the family. But have a look at what we have and see if there's anything you like."
Kensi nodded and continued to play her part. She dropped Deeks's hand and used both of hers to pick up each of the few rings, pretending to admire and inspect them.
Deeks wrapped his arm around her middle and couldn't help but smile when this time the movement didn't end with her heel on his toes.
"This one is nice," she said, holding one up to him, pretending to include him.
He couldn't resist. "It's beautiful, my sweet."
That did end with her heel on his toes.
She bit down on her lower lip. "I just...I don't know." She slid it onto her finger and held out her hand. "It's just...how can I be sure?"
He couldn't pretend the sight of an engagement ring on her left hand didn't cause his heart to swell just a bit, but he shook off the feeling for now. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "I think when you know, you just know."
She nodded and pretended to be sad as she placed the ring back down into the display. "Thanks anyway," she said to the man behind the counter.
"Not a problem. An engagement ring is something you will have forever, so it's important you be sure." He paused. "If you're looking for something old fashioned, I'd suggested the jewellery story two blocks over, Mason's, they have a nice selection of antiques. And there's a nice cafe next to it if you're looking to grab lunch."
"Sounds great," Deeks said. "Thank you."
They left the store.
"A little soon for engagement rings, don't you think?" Kensi teased the moment they were out of ear shot.
"I was thinking on my feet," he countered.
"You going to tell me what's going on?"
"The guy who showed us the rings?"
"Yeah?"
"Undercover LAPD."
Kensi was surprised. "Really? I would never have guessed."
"That's the point."
"That's...not what I meant. I mean you clearly know him and I didn't notice any recognition. And that's impressive."
"He's good. Saved my ass a few times."
"You've been under together?"
"Yeah. He's a good guy. And now we need to find that cafe he told us about and wait for him to show up..."
They were able to locate Mason's with a little help from Eric, and settled themselves into the small cafe next door to it. It was a good location for a meet; small, quiet and had both a front and back entrance. It was two hours until they were joined by Deeks's LAPD friend.
"Deeks," he greeted as he walked up to their table.
"Monroe," Deeks greeted back, standing to shake his hand. "Sorry we walked into your operation back there."
"No worries. You did a great job covering for yourself. I taught you well."
"Oh, no. I'm the one who taught you."
"I don't think so."
Deeks laughed. "It's good to see you, man. Been a long time."
"A really long time. I got out of a seven month undercover with a robbery crew only to hear you'd joined up with some feds?"
Deeks laughed. "I'm liaising." He smirked at Kensi. "They can't live without me."
She rolled her eyes at him.
Deeks kept laughing as he turned back to Monroe. "This is my partner, Agent Kensi Blye. Kens, this is Detective Phillip Monroe."
Kensi stood to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you, Detective Monroe."
"You, too, Agent Blye. Thanks for covering back there. I'm right on the verge of bringing these guys down, so I don't want anything setting them off right now."
"You sure you're good to be talking with us right now?"
Monroe nodded. "They're not exactly high speed. Kind of like that wannabe drug crew we infiltrated back in oh-seven."
"Ah, yes, I remember fondly..." Deeks laughed. "Super suspicious of every little thing that happened right in front of them, but then anything out of sight was out of mind."
Monroe laughed and turned to Kensi. "Oh man, they had this shit hole of a broken down ranch that they thought was so strategic. And we would take turns sneaking off to meet our handler to provide information because there was no cell signal. And then one night we both had to go, and we thought, no big deal because they had literally never noticed our absence before. And we got back, and the head guy had been looking for us. And we'd had this whole story prepared, just in case. And he asks us where we've been. And we say we went for a walk..."
"And keep in mind, it's like three in the morning," Deeks cut in.
"And before we can tell any of the rest of the story, he's like, okay. And that was it."
They laughed together.
Kensi smiled. "You guys sound like you had fun together."
"Maybe not fun, but we have some fond memories," Monroe said.
"Definitely some fond memories," Deeks agreed.
"And now you're probably looking for some information."
"If you're willing to share."
"Well, if it were just you I wouldn't," Monroe joked, "But your partner seems nice and I feel bad that she has to work with you every day so I'll do it for her."
"Oh, how kind of you," Deeks said dryly.
"I've been under two months at the pawn shop," Monroe began. "It's a drug distribution centre, but also a profitable pawn shop." He shook his head. "Can you believe they actually advertised for part time help in the newspaper?"
"They sound high speed."
"Bates thought what the hell, had me apply. I got the job and got in with them. It was only a week before they let me in on the drugs. Took me this long to get the info on their suppliers."
"Still, pretty damn good for two months work."
"What about you two? What brought you in today?"
"Two dead petty officers found in an alley down the street last night. Found with fourteen hundred and sixteen hundred and fifty dollars on them. We were just canvassing to see where they may have gotten the money."
"Did they OD?"
"Nope, shot. Execution style."
"And whoever shot them left the money."
Kensi pulled out her phone and presented photos of the dead Petty Officers. "These are them. Do they look familiar?"
"I only worked the morning shift," he said as he took her phone for a close look, "So I won't be of any help if..." he trailed off. "Wait. I know these guys."
"They were in yesterday?"
"Not from yesterday. From last week. They brought some first edition books." He nodded thoughtfully to himself. "And they must have been back, quite possibly yesterday, because there were more books in the store as of this morning. I know that because this guy was waiting for us to open this morning. He said his brother had sold a book that had been in the family for years and he wanted to buy it back, didn't care how much."
"Which book?" Kensi asked.
"Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I remember thinking it was strange that he only wanted that one book back."
"There must have been something in the book," Deeks said, glancing at Kensi.
"Maybe the Petty Officers were stealing the books from someone to fund their gambling habit and stole the wrong one?"
Deeks nodded along. "And were killed for it. And then the guy they were stealing from retrieved the book that was important to him for whatever reason." He looked to Monroe. "You remember what this guy looked like?"
"About six feet. Dark brown hair, cut short. Goatee. Jeans. Green polo. Had a black shoulder bag, may have been a laptop bag."
"We should be able to pull him up on street cameras in the area. You said he was there when you opened?"
"Waiting outside the door at nine. Got the impression he'd been there a while."
"This has been awesome, man, thanks for the help."
"No problem, Deeks. I know you'd do the same for me."
"Let me know when you're out. We owe you a drink."
Monroe smiled. "I'll try, man, but I've already been given word I'm supposed to be infiltrating some drug cartel as soon as I'm out of this."
"They don't give you any time in between?" Kensi asked.
Monroe shrugged. "You get used to it. Plus, apparently many have failed, so I may be a free man again sooner than expected."
Deeks shook his hand. "Be careful out there."
Monroe smiled. "Always am."
December 2014
"This was quite possibly the best idea you've ever had," Kensi said as she lay sprawled across the king sized bed in the small cabin they had rented for their week of vacation. Across the room, Monty lay by the fire, happy to be included in the trip with his two favourite people.
Deeks walked towards her and then crawled over top of her up the bed. She was laughing by the time his face was level with hers.
"I have lots of good ideas."
She hooked her hands behind his neck and pulled him down to kiss her. "Okay, it's one of the best ideas you've ever had."
"Hmm." He affectionately rubbed his nose against hers. "That's better. Though, we did come all the way up to Mammoth to go snowboarding."
"So?"
"So," he echoed. "We have yet to actually go snowboarding."
"This is only the second day," she pointed out. "And it's only morning. We may get out onto the slopes today."
"It's almost noon," he teased, "And you're still in your pajamas."
"I'm not still in my pajamas," she countered. "I'm in my pajamas again." She hooked her leg around his. "Are you telling me you wish I'd never taken them off this morning?"
He pretended to consider before shaking his head. Then he smirked and kissed her. "I am always in support of you taking your clothes off, Kens, you know that."
She rolled her eyes, but was laughing as he kissed her again.
"So, should I take them off now?" She asked.
He smirked. "See, now, I knew there was a reason why I loved you."
"Just one reason?" She asked as she shoved playfully at his chest.
He rolled off of her and sat up. "One of a thousand reasons," he clarified as he pulled his own shirt over his head.
She rid herself of her pajama top and was pushing down the hem of her pajama shorts when he just couldn't not be touching her a moment longer.
"Deeks!" She laughed as he rolled back over her, trapping her with her shorts around her knees. She mumbled a few things against his lips as they kissed, but all he managed to hear was, "impatient."
"I'm patient when it matters," he whispered in return.
She moaned. "I know." She smirked up at him. "One of the thousand reasons I love you..."
April 2015
A priority case came in the day before their five year anniversary as partners, keeping them working overnight and focussed on their assignment. Deeks had planned to wake up his partner with breakfast in bed to start off the important day. Instead they spent much of the night running surveillance. Around four thirty, Deeks slipped out of the car and into the coffee shop across the street. He returned with coffee and donuts.
"Happy anniversary, partner," he said, holding up his takeout cup and so-so coffee.
Despite her exhaustion, she beamed at him and 'clinked' her matching cup against his. "Five years."
"Five years," he echoed. "Any regrets?"
"Not really."
He frowned. "Not really isn't a no."
She laughed. "It's not... I mean there's nothing about us that I regret."
"Then what?" He cocked his head as he took a moment to consider his partner of five years and girlfriend of nine months.
She smiled at him before turning her eyes back to the building down the street. "I just wish you could be celebrating today as an agent, that's all. I get all the reasons for waiting, but it's been a long time to wait now."
"Just about three and a half years since I signed the papers."
"Do you ever regret agreeing to this plan?"
"Not really."
"That's not a no."
He smiled at her calling him out like he had her. "Sometimes I wish there was a better way. It's a lot of waiting. But it's Hetty's plan. And even if I don't always agree with her, her plans do tend to work, so I have to have faith."
Kensi reached across the centre console of the car for his hand. "I'm glad I'm in it with you now."
"Me too, Kens. More glad than you can imagine." He squeezed her hand.
"Does it bother you? That you can't become an agent until this is over?"
"Not really. My background and position are what's supposed to make me look suspicious," he reminded her. "And even if I'm not an agent like you guys I'm doing the same work. Nothing is really different."
Kensi nods. "I guess."
"Does it bother you? Being my partner?"
"Hey," she looked at him sharply. "Don't you dare. I'm proud to be your partner. Detective or agent, I don't care. It only bothers me that it's something you want and can't have."
He felt his heart swell at her words and had to swallow hard before speaking. "I'm proud to be your partner, too, Kens. Five years."
"Five years," she echoed.
"And hopefully I'll be an agent before another five years go by..."
July 2015
Deeks was already in a bad mood before his phone rang. His weekend plans (him, Kensi, resort) had been demolished by their most recent case which had kept them working through the entire weekend. Instead of couples massages, lazing in bed and first class dining, they been stuck traipsing through the dessert for all of Friday and most of Saturday, and then had spent all of their Sunday at a construction site. Once they had one suspect in custody, they'd been allowed to return to the Mission to at least shower and change. Then they'd spent several hours in interrogation, which just opened up more leads and avenues needing investigating. After a sinfully short four hours of sleep, they'd been back to work Monday morning, only to be sent all of the city on a multitude of wild goose chases. After another equally short night of sleep Monday night, Tuesday was a repeat of Monday's fruitfulness and frustration.
And after far too few hours of sleep Tuesday night, Deeks was halfway through his third coffee in the early hours of Wednesday morning when his phone rang.
Due to language requirements, Sam had pulled Kensi to question yet another suspect in a long line of suspects, but they'd only just left, so he knew it couldn't be them calling in yet. He glanced at the caller ID as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and was surprised to see it was Lieutenant Bates.
"Bates," He greeted as he answered the call.
"Deeks," Bates greeted evenly. "Sorry to call so early."
"No worries. Been up for hours, unfortunately."
"NCIS working you too hard?"
"Just hard enough."
"Good."
"Something up?"
Bates sighed. "I got bad news, kid."
Deeks sighed as understanding washed over him. There was only one reason Bates would call him like this; only one kind of 'bad news' he would be sharing. "Who?" He asked simply.
"Phillip Monroe."
"Fuck," Deeks muttered. He closed his eyes as his breath escaped him.
"I know you two were friends. I wanted you to hear it from me."
"How?"
"He was undercover with the cartels; joint taskforce with the FBI. Must have been made. We lost contact with him. Moved in, but they were gone. Left his body as a statement."
Deeks felt anger and sadness and loss swell within him.
"You there, kid?"
"I'm here."
"He was a good cop."
"A damn good cop. Saved my ass a few times."
"Funeral's on Saturday. I'll send you the details."
"I'll be there."
"Keep your chin up, Deeks. Don't do anything stupid."
"You know me, sir."
"I do. That's why I'm worried."
"Thanks for letting me know."
Bates allowed him to avoid and end the call.
Deeks placed his phone back into his pocket. He took a deep breath and slowly released it, but it didn't calm him nearly enough. He tried again, but too much anger had collected in his chest. "Damnit!" He erupted, slamming his hands down onto his desk. His coffee splashed dangerously in his mug, and had it been any fuller, would have spilled. He seethed for a moment, and then grabbed the mug and downed the rest of the coffee. When he slammed the mug back down onto his desk, he looked up to see Callen staring at with an expression suggesting concern.
"Hetty would warn you damage done to office property doesn't benefit anyone and comes out of your paycheck," he said lightly.
Deeks knew it was Callen's way of trying to lighten the mood.
"And I would tell Hetty it makes me feel better and I'll pay for whatever she wants me to."
Callen smiled at that. "Fair enough. You good?"
He stood. "I'm fine. We have a lead yet? I'm ready to be done with this case."
Callen nodded. "Eric got us another lead."
"Let's go."
Their lead, as it turns out, didn't pan out, but leads to another, which leads to another. And another. They stay in touch with Kensi and Sam, who are working their own leads. After over five years of working as a team, they're able to switch up partners if needed, so it's easier to just remain as they started out that morning instead of wasting time driving to each other to switch back. One of Callen and Deeks's many, many, many leads send them to the base in San Diego. It's midnight by the time they finish questioning their newest suspect, so they end up crashing on base.
Deeks checked his phone, only to find a text from Kensi from over an hour earlier informing him she was at home trying to get some sleep. He wanted to talk to her. Wanted desperately to hear her voice. Wanted to call her and tell her about Monroe and have her tell him everything would be alright. But he knew she was as tired as he was, so he didn't have the heart to wake her. Instead, he sent her a quick text for her to get when she woke the next morning, telling her he and Callen were staying in San Diego and would be home the next day, telling her he loved her. He set down his phone and headed into the bathroom to shower.
The hot water beat down on him as he did every stress relieving exercise he knew in an attempt to calm his mind. But in the end, he allowed himself to yell and bang his fist against the concrete wall of the shower instead. He didn't feel much better when he dried himself, but he felt calmer, so he took the win. He stumbled back across the hall to his small room and collapsed onto the bed.
Somewhere around two in the morning, he managed to fall asleep. He dreamt of the case where he and Monroe went undercover together as cousins in a weapon ring. In real life, Deeks's cover alias had been accused of stealing assault rifles and had nearly been killed. He'd been pinned down with no way out when Monroe had saved his life. In the dream, Monroe had died saving him and Deeks had watched him bleed out.
Deeks woke at four, pulled his gym clothes from his go bag and went for a run around the base. By six, he had returned, showered and changed in time to meet Callen. If Callen noticed the darkened rings under his eyes, he didn't say anything.
They got an hour away from San Diego when Eric called with new information which only opened up more questions for the suspect they had driven to San Diego to question in the first place. They had to turn around and drive all the way back to base to question the same suspect again.
Turns out, their suspect still wasn't their guy. But with their new information, was able to give them a lot more useful information. And more names. They spent most of the day interviewing other Petty Officers in San Diego. It was dark before they got on the road again.
"You good to drive?" Callen asked.
"As long as we can stop for coffee."
"Agreed."
It was after midnight when they got to the Mission, which was empty of everyone but Hetty, who welcomed them back looking just as awake and alert as always. "Go home, gentlemen. Try to get some sleep and be back bright and early."
Deeks debated going to Kensi's apartment, but didn't want to wake her. She had texted earlier to say she was home for the night and had Monty with her. He walked in the door of his empty apartment and crashed onto his bed, exhaustion winning out over worry of additional nightmares.
If he dreamt, he didn't remember. The next thing he knew, his phone was ringing. The screen told him it was almost six and it was Kensi calling. "Hey," he said groggily.
"Hey," she said, sounding much more awake than he felt. "How'd you sleep?"
"Not long enough."
"Me neither. But I did share my bed with a very handsome man last night," she teased. "Last two nights, actually."
He rolled his eyes at her joke. "It only upsets him when you let him on the bed, Kens. Because when I'm back in the bed and he's back on the floor he doesn't understand."
"Good point. Maybe you and he should take turns sleeping on the floor?"
For the first time in two days, Deeks actually laughed.
"Was Monty good the last two nights?"
"You know he's always well behaved. But he missed you." She paused before adding, "We both did."
"I missed you, too." He sighed. "You calling bright and early cause they need us in?"
"I'm already in. And yeah, Hetty wants you in by six thirty."
"Tell her I'm on my way."
By the time he got into work, arriving at the same time as Callen, Kensi had already been sent away with Sam, as they had been the first two in. Their first lead actually panned out and sent them to a second, which sent them to a trucking yard. And then all hell broke loose.
Deeks and Callen were knee deep in interviews when the call comes in that their partners are pinned down several miles away.
Callen's driving may be questionable, but it got them there faster than LAPD backup, so they were first on scene.
Callen stopped the borrowed SUV outside the gate to the trucking yard. "Stealthy or not stealthy?"
They glanced at each other before saying together, "Not stealthy."
Callen put the SUV into reverse and raced backwards a few hundred feet. Deeks jumped out and opened the back hatch. He pulled on a vest, and set to work attaching as many handguns and extra ammunition as he could. Callen joined him and did the same. Lastly, he attached a tactical rifle around his shoulder. Callen passed him a few grenades, "Let's make this interesting." He took two and put them into the pockets of his vest.
When they were suited up, Callen motioned to the driver's side of the SUV. "You want to do the honours?"
Deeks shook his head. "Nah, you deserve it. Your partner is even more protective of that damn Challenger than Kensi is of her SRX."
Callen got back into the driver's seat and Deeks into the passenger. Callen passed Deeks his rifle for safe keeping. They secured their seatbelts and then Callen put the SUV into drive and barreled down on the front gates. There was an incredible jolt as the SUV came into contact with the metal gates, but the gates gave way and the vehicle skidded slightly before Callen forced it to regain traction. They only got about fifty feet before the shooting started.
The first shots came from the right, so Callen veered to the left, but then looped around. Deeks was ready and opened his window to shoot towards the direction of the shots. Either he hit someone or scared someone, because the shooting stopped. They continued to veer between rows of trucking containers, getting as close to Kensi and Sam's last known location as possible. And then the shooting really started.
Deeks was able to return some fire at first, but soon the windshield was so damaged they could barely see through it. Callen turned away from the shooting and half parked, half crashed into a pile of crates.
"When Sam asks, tell him that was much more graceful," Callen said as he struggled to remove his seatbelt with the still deflating airbag in the way.
"Yeah, yeah," Deeks said through gritted teeth. His hands, arms and upper body were stinging. Airbags were not designed to be deployed with two assault rifles and a handgun between you and the dash of the vehicle.
"You okay?"
"Fine. Just not a lot of space."
Callen pulled a knife and sliced a hole in the airbag; helping it to deflate faster.
"Thanks," Deeks said, passing Callen his rifle. "Let's do this."
They got out of the car, just in time to take cover from the approaching mob of bad guys. They took most of them down in the initial shootout and the rest backed off to regroup. Callen and Deeks move around for a better tactical set up. Their bad guys are distracted by the sounds of sirens from approaching LAPD, a distraction which Callen and Deeks use as an advantage for a second round.
They moved closer to the location Kensi and Sam called in from, but their partners were not there. The only thing they found was blood.
A lot of blood.
Eric hadn't been able to pull then up on GPS for over an hour, so they know it's likely they've been captured and all electronics destroyed. Deeks just prayed they were still alive.
They followed the drag marks from the blood to a warehouse on the grounds and remained as stealthy as possible as they snuck inside. It was smaller warehouse, allowing them to clear it quickly. They found the office at the back, guarded by several armed bad guys.
"I count at least five," Deeks whispered.
"The smart move would be to wait for LAPD," Callen whispered back.
Deeks nodded. A few years ago he may have misinterpreted Callen's words as an opinion on what they should do next. Now, however, he knew the man much better and knew he was simply stating a fact. "But at least one of our partners is in there bleeding."
"So we do this now."
"Agreed."
"And we should try to take at least one of them alive."
"Understood."
They found a heavy piece of metal the size of a phone and Deeks threw it as far as he could. The noise caught the attention of the guards. Callen was able to take down two of the guards before they realized what was going on and made a shot at a third before the bullets started flying.
"NCIS!" Callen called at the top of his lungs.
"You're surrounded!" Deeks added with hope they would believe him.
"Come out with your hands up!"
No response, but enough confusion that the shooting slowed. Deeks popped up and managed a few shots. He took down one of the guards. Callen got another. Together, they moved forward. The final guard, who had already been hit once in the leg and was now facing two armed men walking towards him, dropped his gun and holds up his hands. Callen quickly zip tied his hands around a pole.
They breached the office.
Sam was sprawled on the floor, propped up against a couch, barely conscious. Kensi was on her knees beside him, covered in blood, her hands clamped onto his upper leg, where the blood was clearly coming from. Behind them stood men with two guns each. The man on the left pointed both guns at Callen and Deeks. The man on the right pointed one gun at them and one at Sam and Kensi.
"NCIS," Callen repeated.
Deeks was impressed by how controlled the older man sounded. He doubted he himself would sound so controlled if he opened his mouth right now. He could not let another friend die this week. And there was no way in hell he was letting Kensi die.
"We're federal agents. You're surrounded," Callen continued. "Put down the weapons or you're not walking out of here."
"You put down the weapons or your friends won't be walking out of here," the guy to the right said. "In fact..." He dropped one of his guns and stepped forward in one quick movement, crouching and wrapping an arm around Kensi's neck, placing the muzzle of his gun to the side of her head.
"No," she cried as her hands were pulled from the wound on Sam's leg.
Deeks felt near-rage well within him as his partner was forced to her feet and held with a gun to her head. Her legs and arms were covered in Sam's blood. From what he could tell, she wasn't injured herself.
"How are you going to get out of this now?" The man sneered.
"How about with the agent standing right behind you?" Deeks bluffed.
It worked. The idiot holding Kensi actually turned his head to look and in doing so loosened his grip on Kensi. She was ready and twisted out of his grip. He was dead the moment there was a clear shot. And the moment his body hit the ground, his partner in crime dropped his weapons and surrendered.
Kensi immediately dropped to the floor, hands back onto Sam's leg wound, trying to re-stop the bleeding.
Deeks moved to handcuff their living bad guy, allowing Callen to be with his barely conscious partner. After he had immobilized the suspect, he called Eric.
"Eric, ETA on an ambulance?"
"Already there," Eric said. "I called for one as soon as you guys called in the blood. But it's waiting at the front gates. LAPD is still clearing the yard and reporting active shooters."
"Damn it," he muttered, knowing that could take too long. He glanced at Sam. Kensi was still pressing against his leg and Callen was trying to get him to talk, but he wasn't responding well. In his condition, and knowing from experience the size of the yard, it would probably take too long to wait for the ambulance to come to them. "I'll call you back," he said.
"Calllen, watch this guy," he called, pointing to the handcuffed bad guy sitting on the floor of the office, as he ducked back into the warehouse. Their zip tied guard was still attached to the same pole Callen had tied him to on their way into the office and yelled as Deeks ran by, but Deeks didn't slow down. He ran through the warehouse, knowing from experience in having cleared it that there were no vehicles. He exited and caught sight of several LAPD offices milling around.
"Hey!" He called.
They turned, weapons drawn, but settled when they caught sight of his NCIS vest. He held up his hands for good measure. "We need help in here! We have an agent whose been shot and needs to get to the front gates where there's an ambulance waiting before he bleeds out. We also have two suspects to be secured. Can you help me with that?"
Two of the officers nodded and hurried into the warehouse. "In the back at the office. Call out to announce yourself!" Deeks called after them. "And thank you!"
Next, he hurried around the corner until he found a vehicle, which was locked, no keys. "Fuck!" He exclaimed. He ran around a row of storage containers and almost laughed in relief. It wasn't exactly what he was looking for, but it would do. And the keys were sitting in the ignition. He jumped into the cab of the ATV tractor with the extended flatbed clearly used to move larger packages around the yard.
He steered it as quickly as possible into the warehouse and as close to the office as possible. The officers were still there and helped Callen, Deeks and Kensi lift Sam onto the flatbed.
Deeks dialled into OPs. "Eric, you got the fastest way out of here for me?" Deeks asked as he jumped back into the driver's seat.
"I'm ready for you," Eric responded. "And the ambulance knows to expect you."
"You guys ready?" Deeks called behind him where Callen and Kensi were doing their best to keep Sam as stable as possible for the ride.
"Just go as fast as you can," Callen said, worry clear in his blue eyes.
"Let's do this." With Eric providing directions, he drove them out of the warehouse, through several throngs LAPD, past their crashed SUV, and back towards the front gates they had crashed through less than an hour earlier. They helped the paramedics move Sam from the flatbed to the stretcher and then backed off for them to do their work.
The moment their jobs were done, Deeks pulled Kensi into his arms and held her tightly. They said nothing as they watched the paramedics fight for Sam's life. He was loaded into the ambulance and Callen jumped in after him. And then, together, they watched as the ambulance disappeared down the road.
"We got pinned down," she whispered when the ambulance was out of sight. "And we were getting away. And one moment he was beside me and then he wasn't anymore. I couldn't leave him to bleed out."
He hugged her tighter. "No, never."
"He has to be okay."
He wanted to assure her that their friend and teammate would be, but he just couldn't get the words out. It had been an awful week, in which he had received awful news. Monroe was dead. And now Sam was fighting for his life. Kensi was covered in his blood. Deeks knew with the tight hug, he must look about the same as her now. He just couldn't hold it together anymore. Instead of words of assurance, he felt tears sting his eyes.
"Deeks?"
He shook his head.
She pulled back far enough to meet his eyes. "Hey, we're going to go to the hospital and wait for news. And it's Sam. He's always okay."
Deeks tried to nod and put on a brave face, but he could still feel tears welled in his eyes.
She lifted her hands, as if to wipe his eyes, but the blood on her hands caught both their attentions and she dropped them quickly. She looked at him - into him - knowingly. "Did something else happen today?"
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Not today," he whispered. "Bates called on Wednesday. One of my old co-workers - a friend - was killed undercover earlier this week."
She leaned into him. "Oh, Deeks, I'm so sorry."
"You met him once. Phillip Monroe."
"I remember. I liked him."
"He saved my ass a few times."
"I'm sure you returned the favour."
He nodded. "Maybe once or twice." He paused and sobered. "The funeral's tomorrow."
She grabbed his hand and threaded their fingers together, heedless of the blood and grit covering both their hands. "Well, we need to get to the hospital and make sure Sam's okay, because we're only going to one funeral this week."
"You'll come with me?"
"Of course." She looked around. "Now, where did you guys park?"
"We may have opted for the non-stealthy option."
"Is your car driveable?"
"Not so much. Did you see the crashed SUV we passed? Compliments of Callen."
Kensi cracked a smile. "Well, your first mistake was letting Callen drive."
"We do need to go take a picture to show Sam when he wakes up," he said. It was the most optimistic thing he could say.
"Agreed."
"Where did you park?"
"They waved us in. But must have moved the Challenger because we left it right over there," she said, motioning with her hand.
"Let's go check in with LAPD and see if they've seen it."
They were cautious as they moved through the yard, but didn't come across any evidence of active shooters. Eric called to tell them their two living suspects were being transported by the LAPD to the custody of the LA Field office for questioning and interrogation. After the week they'd had, and being that Sam was injured and Callen was at the hospital with his partner, and noting Kensi and Deeks were basically stranded until they found a vehicle, their team was officially offline for the time being.
They made contact with an LAPD Lieutenant Deeks wasn't familiar with, but had been sent in to try to take some sort of control over the multitude of officers and detectives on site.
"Lieutenant Harding," he introduced himself, appearing somewhat stressed with the situation but handling it very well.
"Detective Deeks, Agent Blye," Deeks introduced himself and Kensi.
Harding hesitated. "Detective? With...NCIS?" He motions to the letters on the vest Deeks is still wearing.
Deeks exchanged a smile with his partner and pulled out his badge. "Sort of. Detective with LAPD," he said, holding up his badge. "Assigned to NCIS as a liaison. This is my partner, who is an agent with NCIS."
Kensi nodded and held up her own badge.
"Alright. Interesting partnership. How long you been partners?" He seemed genuinely curious and not challenging.
"A little more than five years," Kensi answered for them.
He looked back to Deeks. "And you work full time with NCIS?"
"I do."
"Sounds interesting."
"Well, on days like today, it is."
Harding sobered quickly. "Is your agent going to be okay?"
Kensi nodded. "We hope so."
"I hope so, too." Harding scoffed. "Been enough death in the line of duty this week."
Deeks paused. "You don't mean...Monroe?"
Harding nodded. "You knew him?"
"Yeah, I did. I worked undercover before I was assigned to NCIS. We were close."
"It's a damn shame what happened to that boy. He deserved better."
"What do you mean?"
Harding shook his head. "Rumour is he was sold out."
"He got burned?"
Harding nodded. "They were two weeks away from going in and taking down the entire organization. He called in the last information and then suddenly the cartel up and leaves and they find his body? Nope, nuh uh. That's not a coincidence. He got sold out."
Deeks felt what little control he had over his emotions slipping. "I didn't know all that." Beside him, Kensi brushed up against him, trying to convey her support.
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news and all that," Harding said. "I guess I'm still trying to wrap my own head around it."
"Yeah..."
"Will I see you at the funeral tomorrow?" He asked.
"We'll be there," Kensi answered for both of them.
Harding nodded. "Tell you what. Today, go to the hospital, be with your team. Tomorrow, after the funeral, if you want, I'll walk you through everything I know."
Deeks nodded, knowing his priority today needed to be Sam. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Actually, we're looking for a car. A black Challenger, which was moved from the front gates. Know if your guys have seen it?" Kensi asked.
Harding shook his head, but called out the request through his radio. After a moment, an officer responded, but was unable to direct them to where he was. Harding pinched the bridge of his nose as the officer struggled to explain the path he had taken to get to where he was in the maze of a truck and storage yard. When he mentioned he was near a crashed SUV, Deeks lit up.
"Oh, I know where that is." He spoke directly with the officer to get the rest of the directions and then thanked him.
"Do I want to know why you know where a specific crashed vehicle is?"
"Because I was in it when it crashed," Deeks said nonchalantly.
Harding raised an eyebrow.
"What? I wasn't driving."
Kensi laughed. "For the record, it is an NCIS vehicle. We'll stop and remove all weapons on our way out, but from what I hear it's not driveable. Right now I know it's part of the crime scene, but I'll make sure we're in touch to have it removed when released."
"Sounds good," Harding nodded and passed Kensi a card.
They parted ways and Kensi and Deeks headed for the SUV. They took pictures to show Sam, and then removed the remaining weapons. It wasn't far to the Challenger. They even found the keys on the dash. A quick check of the vehicle showed it hadn't been tampered with, so they stowed the weapons in the trunk, along with Deeks's vest and the grenades he was still carrying.
"Grenades?" Kensi asked, eyebrow raised.
"Callen was a little over enthusiastic."
"I guess it's better to have a grenade and not use it than to not have one and wish you did," she said with a shrug of her shoulders as she shut the trunk.
"I love our conversations."
They played rock-paper-scissors for who got to drive the Challenger. Kensi won. They got blood all over the front seats of Sam's car, but decided it was okay because it was Sam's blood after all.
They checked in as they're leaving the yard, and were told Sam was considered stable and was in surgery, so they headed to the Mission first, seeing as they were covered in blood and grime and could use a shower and change of clothes before going out in public. They arrived at the mission and met Hetty, who is waiting for them. She shook her head at their appearance and made comments about never ever in a million years getting the blood stains out of their clothes.
After a shower and fresh clothes, Deeks felt much more human. Kensi looked like she felt better, too. Her hair was damp and pulled back, and she didn't bother with any makeup, but regardless, he still thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He hugged her tight to him, and then he kissed her soundly, not caring that anyone could see. She didn't seem to care either.
"I love you," he told her.
"I love you, too," she practically breathed back to him, not making any move to leave his arms. "That was a pretty awesome move today, distracting the guy that was holding me."
"It was lucky," he said. "But regardless, I wasn't going to let him shoot you."
She reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry about your friend."
"Me too. He was a good guy."
She leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him. "Let's go to the hospital."
"Okay."
September 2015
Kensi pulled into her spot next to Deeks's truck and turned off the ignition. For a long moment she just sat and savoured the moment. And then she turned her attention to the passenger seat and sighed.
She stepped out of her car and walked around to the passenger side. She opened the door and lifted out a pile of three boxes. Using her foot, she shut the door, and then trekked up to Deeks's apartment door. Again, she used her foot to knock. After a moment, the door swung open.
"What took you so long...hello, boxes," he stumbled slightly over his words as he laughed at the sight that greeted him on the other side of the door.
"Hi, honey, I'm home," she greeted.
"I thought we were taking a break from packing today?" He asked as he took the top two boxes out of her arms.
"I know, but you had some errands, so I thought I'd do something productive."
"Only a hundred loads left of Kensi's hoardings," he joked.
She dropped her box onto the floor and then swatted playfully at his chest. "Very funny."
Deeks pulled her close and kissed her. "Thank you for being so awesome."
Kensi hooked her hands behind his neck. "I don't really have control over how awesome I am. It just comes naturally."
He laughed and kissed her again. "I know it would have been easier for me to move in with you," he told her.
"I wouldn't ask you to do that," she said with a straight face. Then she smirked. "I know how long you've been waiting for burying those documents to pay off."
Deeks chuckled. "You really are awesome."
"And you know what else?"
He rubbed his nose affectionately against hers. "What?"
"Without you and Monty taking up space in the car this time I was able to load everything that was left."
"Everything?"
"Everything," she confirmed.
"So, this is...official? We're living together."
"We will be as soon as you help me unload the car."
He kissed her quickly and then released her. "Then what are we waiting for?" He was out the door before she could respond.
October 2015
Deeks's mind slowly found its way into consciousness at the niggling sensation that someone was watching him. He had been home late the night before and out the door extra early, so when he'd gotten home, he'd sprawled on the couch for a quick rest. He hadn't intended to fall into a deep sleep.
He blinked the blurriness out of his eyes and then jolted up to sit on the couch as the sight that greeted him. His partner of five and a half years and girlfriend of fifteen months was standing over him, arms crossed, glaring down at him.
"Kens," he breathed as his heart settled. "You scared me."
"Good."
Still sitting on the couch as she glared down at him, and feeling a bit like a chastised child, he nodded. "Okay. What did I do?"
"You've been avoiding me for a week."
He exhaled slowly, knowing he would need to handle this situation so very cautiously.
"Kensi." He reached for her hand. She was always calmer if they were touching.
She allowed him to thread their fingers together and even tug her down next to him on the couch. That was a good sign.
"What is it you think I'm doing?"
"I don't know. And that's why you're going to tell me."
He smiled at her tenacity. "I'm not avoiding you."
"You've been making calls. And running errands. And you left early this morning."
"I get up early to surf all the time."
She smirked and he cringed internally, knowing immediately he shouldn't have left himself open trying to get away with a vague statement. "So, you're saying you were surfing this morning?"
He sighed. "No," he said truthfully. "I was not surfing this morning."
She leaned into him. "And this afternoon?"
"I wasn't surfing then either."
She rolled her eyes. "Not what I meant."
He nodded. "I know."
"I'm supposed to be your partners, Deeks."
"You are my partner. In everything, Kens."
"So, it's not about...the case?"
He almost laughed out loud. "No." He smiled. "No. For once in almost four years, I'm doing something that has nothing to do with Operation Wac-A-Mole."
"Hetty's going to kill you if you don't stop calling it that."
This time he did laugh out loud and she joined him. "It's a valid name."
"So, this has nothing to do with the case...or work?"
He shook his head. "I wouldn't move forward without you." He paused as he realized that despite all his planning, this may just be his perfect opening. "In fact, I don't want to do anything without you, Kens. And that's why I've been running so many errands."
She raised an eyebrow. "You've been avoiding me because you don't want to do anything without me?" She asked, her mind clearly still catching up on the knowledge that his recent absences from their life have nothing to do with their job.
He leaned close to kiss her. "Not avoiding. Planning."
"Planning what?"
He reached into his pocket where the ring he had picked up that afternoon still lay safely and pulled out the velvet box. "To give you this."
Forgoing his original plan and letting go of the time spent looking into possible locations to ask her was worth it simply for the look of surprise on her face.
"I love you, Kensi Blye," he said as he flicked open the box and revealed the elegant engagement ring he had painstakingly designed for his hopefully soon-to-be fiancée. "You're my partner. And my best friend. And the love of my life. And I really want to add wife to that list. I think you're incredible. And I think we're good together. We make each other better, stronger. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Without releasing her hand, he shifted off the couch beside her and onto the floor in front of her. He may not have chocolates or flowers or a fancy dinner, but he could get down on one knee for her.
Kensi wasn't quite crying, but her eyes were suspiciously watery. She smiled, though, and laughed at him kneeling before her. "Going traditional?"
"Someone has to be the traditional one."
"Hey, I can be traditional. If I have to be."
"You can't cook. Or clean. Plus you shoot. Don't let me drive. Dismantle bombs. Hot wire cars. And airplanes, though I've never actually seen proof of that-"
She swatted at his chest. "Let's do you then, shall we? You don't know how to hot wire a car."
"Or an airplane," he quipped, still kneeling patiently in front of his still-girlfriend.
She laughed. "You don't drive fast enough. You cook and clean better than Martha Stewart."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You have a pink apron."
"It's purple."
"It's pink."
"It's purple."
"It's pink, Deeks."
"It's purple, Kensi," he repeated.
"It's-"
"Would you stop arguing, I'm kind of trying to propose here."
Kensi laughed. "It's not like you don't know what my answer is going to be."
He squeezed her hand. "Marry me?"
"Yes."
November 2015
Even if Deeks hadn't noticed the surreptitious glance Hetty sent him in the afternoon of the four year anniversary of him handing in his papers to become an NCIS Agent, he would have stayed after work anyway. He sent his own glance to his partner, who nodded in understanding. When it was time to leave for the day, they took their time collecting their things so it appeared to Callen and Sam as if they were simply leaving right behind them. Instead, once their co-workers were gone for the day, they headed over to Hetty's desk.
Instead of offering them tea, Hetty poured them both a glass of well-aged scotch.
"This is amazing, Hetty," Deeks said after taking a sip. "I'm afraid to ask how much this costs."
"After what you've done for this case, Mr. Deeks, you deserve a whole case. And if that wouldn't cost the same as the GDP of a small European country I would happily expense that for you."
Deeks almost inhaled his second sip at confirmation of what the drink was worth.
"How..." He glanced at Kensi and then back to Hetty. "How did you get the bottle you have?"
"Bottles, Mr. Deeks." She smiled. "Poker match. Queens over jacks."
Kensi and Deeks exchanged another glance.
"What were you betting with?" Kensi asked.
"Ah, a story for another day, Ms. Blye."
Deeks smiled as he took another sip of what he now knew to be the most expensive drink he'd ever had.
"Well, another year has passed." Hetty said solemnly. "And I for one am determine we will not be meeting like this again in another year."
"Amen to that, Hetty."
"I really would like to call you Agent Deeks one of these days."
"Me too," Kensi said.
"I appreciate that, I really do."
Hetty nodded at him and Kensi shot him a soft smile.
"Well, an update. Agent McGee has confirmed the investigation into the security breach and death of your friend Detective Monroe is being monitored in the same way the other significant security breaches have been monitored. Therefore, it is our assertion that the security breach was a direct result of the organization we have been hunting for four years now."
Deeks nodded. It wasn't unexpected news. He'd pretty much known since the month before when Eric had mentioned he'd noticed he wasn't the only one monitoring the investigation. Eric had been checking in regularly for Deeks's information and nothing more when he'd made the discovery. Until then, Deeks hadn't had any idea his friend's death had anything to do with the case he'd been on for so long.
"If it weren't for your connection to Detective Monroe, we may have missed the connection to our case until it was too late."
"And the taskforce?" Kensi asked, knowing Deeks needed a moment.
Hetty sighed. "The taskforce is even more inept than expected, of course. However, I am pleased to finally announce that my sources tell me they have a short list of suspects. And, congratulations, Mr. Deeks you made the list."
That made him smile. "I'm so proud."
Kensi laughed. "Partnered with a traitor, what does that say about me?" She quipped.
"How about the fact that you're marrying a traitor?" He shot back.
Well practised, Hetty ignored them. "We worked hard to get you on that list, Mr. Deeks. Now it's finally time to move forward and do something to really catch their attention."
"Are we finally staging a security breach?"
"The director and I discussed it, but considering the classified status of this office and yourselves, of course, we thought we'll go with something a little more obvious."
"Such as?"
"Murder."
"Oh-kay. Who am I killing?"
"The director has an intelligence analyst in mind, out of DC. Very trusted, thinks he'll be happy to play along and then be sent on an indefinite vacation until all of this is over."
"But if he's out of DC...?"
"We'll have the analyst contact the taskforce to say he has information and arrange a meeting. Then we'll have the two of you fly to DC. We'll arrange this all around a pre-scheduled training class you can register for last minute. Mr. Deeks, you will stage the murder. The director will have a trusted team pretend to investigate. They can control the flow of information."
"And it will lead the taskforce to me."
"Exactly, Mr. Deeks."
"And whoever is monitoring the taskforce will be watching."
"Yes, Ms. Blye."
"Awesome. How soon can we do this?" Deeks asked.
"Probably sometime in January."
"So, this may actually end soon."
"That's the hope, Mr. Deeks."
Deeks raised his glass. "To the hopefully soon end of Operation Wac-A-Mole."
Kensi laughed as she raised her glass.
Hetty said nothing and stared him down for a long moment.
"Come on, Hetty. You know you like the name."
Finally, she raised her glass. "To the end of Operation Wac-A-Mole."
Deeks didn't think he'd ever smiled as wide as he did in that moment. "Cheers!"
December 2015
"Well, it sucked to get called in while we were supposed to be off for the holidays, but at least it was the easiest case ever," Deeks said as the team made their way in the Mission.
"You've got that right, Deeks," Sam answered. "I'm looking forward to getting back to my family."
"Was Kamran excited about her presents yesterday?" Kensi asked.
"She was."
"Of course, her favourites were from her Uncle Callen," Callen said.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Those were pity thanks she gave you."
"They were not. I'll bet you if we sneak back to your house we'll catch her playing with my presents and not yours."
"You're on."
"Well, you two have fun spying on Sam's daughter..." Deeks said.
"Yeah, totally in the holiday spirit this fine boxing day afternoon," Kensi added.
"What are you two up to?"
"Dinner at my mom's." Kensi answered for them as they reached the weapons storage room and began to dismantle their tactical gear.
"We just have to find the presents for her mom," Deeks quipped.
"Shut up," Kensi told him. "I know exactly where they are."
"You know exactly what room they're in. That's not the same thing."
She glared at him.
Deeks smiled brightly at her. "It's okay, Kens. I know I'm marrying a hoarder."
"For the thousandth time; I am not a hoarder."
Callen didn't even bother to address Kensi's denial. "Why don't you just put some stuff in storage?"
"We did," Deeks answered for them both. "But at the end of the day, the apartment just isn't that big." He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he shouldn't have said them, even without the look Kensi shot him.
"Wait," Sam said. "You're paying for a storage locker?"
Deeks forced a neutral expression to his face an nodded. "Yeah, it's not a big deal."
"It's a waste of money," Sam continued. He glared at both of them. "You two make good money; there's no point in throwing it away. With interest rates as low as they are, you should be buying a house."
And there it was. The thing they couldn't actually do until their case was over. The case Callen and Sam didn't know about. Not that Kensi and Deeks hadn't already talked at length about what kind of house they would buy the second they could move.
"A house?" Deeks echoed, as if considering the thought. He glanced at Kensi. "Maybe after the wedding."
"You're throwing so much money away paying rent and storage locker fees."
"You could have an entire basement to hold Kensi's hoardings," Callen quipped. He laughed at his own comment and then yelped when he didn't move fast enough to avoid her fist meeting his shoulder.
"We'll think about it," Deeks said to pacify their team members.
Callen and Sam left quickly, wishing them a Merry Christmas.
"We'll just tell them we decided to wait until after the wedding," Deeks said once they were alone.
Kensi shrugged and turned to him. "But you know Sam won't leave it alone for long. I say we start looking. Doesn't mean we have to be ready to buy anything. But we tell them we're thinking about it and we go to some open houses. Keeps them off our backs and less suspicious. And when we're able to buy a house, we have a better idea of what we're looking for. Win-win."
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. "Sounds good to me." He chose not to comment on the expression he'd seen in her eyes. The wanting. Because he knew it mirrored the expression of wanting in his own eyes. They both wanted this case to be over. They both wanted to be able to buy a house and move forward with their life together. "I love you," he said instead.
"I love you, too."
March 2016
It started as an ordinary day.
Deeks woke with his fiancée and partner in his arms. He made them breakfast as she walked Monty in the morning. And then they drove into work together bantering about paint colours for their future house. Although they would not be able to look with any serious intent to buy until the case was finished, they had actually found it motivating to talk about because it made them look towards the future. Also, ever since Deeks had staged the murder of NCIS Intelligence Analyst Christopher Boyd six weeks earlier, they had been very careful not to speak of the case in case he was being monitored. So, speaking about buying a house had become something of a code to them.
They bickered for Callen and Sam's benefit. Ordinary. Eric whistled. Ordinary. But Eric hurrying down the stairs instead of calling them up. Not so ordinary. With Callen and Sam's attention on Eric, Kensi and Deeks exchanged a glance, wondering if this was the day they were waiting for.
Eric told them the taskforce was in the boatshed. Along with Hetty, Granger and Vance. He gave them instructions to report to the boatshed, but didn't know why.
Callen and Sam were confused. Kensi and Deeks pretended to be equally confused.
They said nothing to each other on the drive over, just in case Deeks was being monitored. But halfway there, they reached for each others' hand and held tight for the rest of the drive. Because they both knew how hard the rest of the day was about to become.
When they arrived at the boat shed, they took their cues from Callen and reacted to him. Deeks acted suitably surprised when he was announced as the suspect. He, of course, denied everything as he willingly handed over his weapons. He almost had to bite back a smile as he passed his knife to Kensi, knowing she would be passing it back to him in a few hours if everything went as planned...
AN: Again, sorry for the length. The next chapter will bring us back to 'today.' Also, just random trivia from a couple reviews/PMs from the last chapter... 'Operation Wac-A-Mole' was a working title for this story. I was happy it got a couple comments because I thought it was a 'Deeks' thing to call the whole operation. In the end, I wanted the title to be a little more serious and give away less, so I didn't use it at the title, but I've included it in the story as much as I could.
Thanks for reading!