Note: NCIS:LA does not belong to me. Also, the M rating comes in later, though I suppose I could have just switched it once it became necessary.
Kensi and Deeks arrived at the cabin late in the evening, as the desert sun rapidly disappeared beyond the horizon and a chill started to seep into the air. The cabin appeared quiet and empty, but they each pulled their weapons out just in case, knowing cartel cases were notoriously unpredictable.
They were gathering their bags from the back of the truck when the sound of a door slamming broke the silence, followed by a man's voice.
"What the hell took you so long?"
Curiously, the man spoke with a heavy Southern drawl and had piercing green eyes and a shaved head, he looked more like a prison skinhead than a Mexican cartel boss to Deeks.
"Got held up in traffic, then this one had to stop to piss about a dozen times" Deeks gestured to Kensi.
"Right," the man started "I guess you're Kirkland then?"
"Yeah" Deeks nodded.
"Arnett" he stuck out his hand for Deeks to shake, and then spared a glance at Kensi.
"Jesus kid, how old are you?"
Not quite finding her voice, Kensi was relieved when Deeks spoke for her.
"Doesn't speak English. Let me tell you it made for a hell of a trip down."
Arnett just laughed, giving Kensi a cursory glance before turning back to Deeks.
"Fucking spics, just good for the cheap labor if you ask me."
Deeks just hummed and nodded, pulling his bag higher on his shoulder.
"So, what's in the cabin?"
"Come on, I'll show you around."
Arnett led them into the small structure, flicking on a lone lightbulb near the door to reveal even less than what Deeks had been expecting, if possible. The walls were bare, and the beams clearly visible, with just the one uncovered bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling and flickering every few seconds, emitting a low buzz. There was a small kitchen jammed into the front corner of the cabin, with an old industrial sink up against the wall. Next to it sat a fridge that reminded Deeks of his junior high home ec. class, perched on only three legs and leaning slightly forward towards the old dinette table surrounded by two lawn chairs that brought the small room together.
There was a battered door to the back of the small room that Deeks assumed led to a bathroom - one he didn't even want to contemplate - but what really concerned him was the bedroom, if you could even call it that. An old mattress was pushed up against the back wall, covered with sheets that actually looked as if they had been washed in the last year, it looked to be a double, but it was also most definitely the only place to sleep in the cabin, as the floor looked neither clean nor terribly comfortable and Deeks had neglected to bring a sleeping bag.
"Cozy."
Arnett chuckled and threw Deeks the keys.
"All yours buddy, welcome to paradise."
He then directed his attention to Kensi, speaking louder and more slowly, as if to a child, and gesticulating as he spoke.
"You.. Sleep.. Floor" he pointed "Kirkland.. Bed.. You.. Floor."
Kensi nodded at the man, though Deeks could see in her eyes that she wanted very badly to cause him bodily harm.
Once Arnett had left, in their truck no less, the partners swept the cabin for bugs and cameras, strangely finding none, before making an attempt to get settled in their new accommodations, with little success.
Deeks was looking through the small fridge, thankful that they'd brought their own food, as everything seemed to have expired some time ago, when he looked up and noticed that there didn't seem to be a lock on the door. Strange, he thought, since Arnett had given him a key.
He took the three steps to the door and grabbed the handle, feeling his heart drop into his stomach as he made an unwelcome discovery.
"Kens, we're locked in."
Kensi looked up from where she had been bent over, checking something behind the bed, an unusual expression on her face.
"What?"
"This door is locked from the outside, and we dont have a key to get out. I don't know how I didn't notice Arnett lock it when he left."
"Shit" Kensi muttered "Well, suddenly these walls make a lot more sense."
"What do you mean?"
"The walls are reinforced somehow, there's no way anyone could break in or out without some sort of construction equipment."
"Shit" Deeks repeated, watching aimlessly as Kensi continued to root around the bed.
"What are you doing?"
"There's something behind here, a notebook of some sort."
Deeks crossed the room to sit next to Kensi on the bed, looking over her shoulder as she opened the notebook.
"The door will be unlocked in the morning and locked again at dusk. This is for everyone's safety. Do not attempt to leave before your replacement arrives, you are surrounded by desert on all sides and the closest town is a three day walk. Someone will come with further instructions in a few days, be up early, it will be in the morning. They will discuss details and payment."
"Alright," Deeks spoke "well at least we know they've not locked us in here to cook us and eat us."
Kensi gave Deeks a look and got up to go to what Deeks had assumed was the bathroom. He heard the door close behind her and then a noise of disgust.
"Oh God, I should have peed by the highway."
Deeks chuckled to himself as he heard the water run and Kensi mutter obscenities to herself.
Kensi had been quiet all day, even when he'd made almost incessant attempts at conversation in the truck. The fact that she hadn't even snapped at him or told him to shut his big mouth concerned him; usually he couldn't get through a sentence without her punching him or telling him to shut it. He knew it was probably his own fault, he'd been giving her mixed signals ever since they'd come back from Afghanistan and lately he'd been pushing her away more than anything else. He knew she deserved more of an explanation than he was giving her, but every time he thought he'd worked up the courage to talk about their thing, the image of her lying dead in the Afghan desert with her throat slit popped into his head and he got scared again. Scared and nauseous. His thoughts always ended up spiralling into a dark place; where he was waterboarding the old blind man, then he would see Siderov, and Sam convulsing under electric shock, then his father, beating his mother to a bloody pulp, then all of a sudden he was eleven again, shotgun in hand, never to see Thanksgiving in quite the same light. But his thoughts always ended up back on Kensi. That damn picture of her lying in the desert was seared into his retinas, and whenever he went into that dark place it was all he could see; and the rage would come back just as strong as it had been that day, and he knew that he would do it again. He would torture the old man, he would shoot his father, he would become that same monster every single day for the rest of his life if that's what it took for Kensi to come home safe. He knew it wasn't logical, and many of the deplorable things he'd done, he'd done long before he met Kensi, and yet he was terrified of the power she held over him. She wasn't even aware of it, but the things he would do, and had done, for her terrified him. So, like an idiot, he pushed her away, knowing full well that all it would accomplish was to make him miserable - and it had - but he felt that maybe that was what he deserved. After all that he'd done, Kensi was probably better off without him.
Hearing the toilet flush, Deeks ran his hand over his face and shook his head, trying to clear his once again spiralling thoughts. No matter how much he rationalized or beat himself up over his actions, it couldn't change the fact that he still wanted her so badly. That it physically hurt every time he didn't just pull her as close as possible to him, spill his guts, and hope to God she felt the same way. It couldn't change the fact that he'd fallen so hard for her that he knew there'd be no recovering from it.
She was it for him, and he knew it; he just wasn't sure why he kept thinking he could fight it.
