15. "Dunkin"

Disclaimer: Not mine

Summary: Asked for some Talia head canon. Came up with this instead.

Talia called to Deeks outside of The Coffee Bean on Wilshire. She called twice actually. Either he never heard her or he didn't want to hear her because he got into his truck and drove away. She was just back from a three-month assignment in Myanmar and wouldn't mind mixing it up with LAPD's blondest. But it was nearly 10PM and really, if Deeks was mainlining coffee at this hour on a Tuesday, she wasn't up for a long conversation with him and with Princess Kensi on whatever case they're working.

Two weeks later, she was running the Playa Del Rey Ironman when a guy who looked like Callen was running with a blonde about her age. Catching up - there was a 27-cycle wipeout which she barely avoided and literally slowed her roll - she scooted between the guy who actually was Callen and his blonde friend. The blonde friend was Anna and based on the way they looked at each other, more than just a friend.

Anna was a US Marshal so Talia was introduced as "DEA Agent Talia Del Campo" by Callen. Promising to leave them in her dust, Talia just wanted to know if Deeks ever finished the case he was working on - late night coffee is great for late night stakeouts but lousy for almost everything else.

Callen frowned and told Talia about Kensi in generalities. Anna suddenly turned her ankle and "Cal" was going to tend to her. Talia knew she was being dismissed and was OK with it. She got that Kensi was family to the men on her team and Anna was taking care of "Cal".

After finishing 58th in her age group, a showered and resting Talia pulled out her iPad and tried to find the hospital near The Coffee Bean. The VA hospital - of course. Sleeping the day away after the Ironman, Talia stopped by just after 9PM, hoping to run into Deeks near Kensi's room. Instead she saw Hetty Lange talking to a sleeping Kensi. Talia turned tailed and decided to try a visit the next day.

The following day, Talia found a woman who honestly looked more like Kensi's older sister than her mother. She also looked like one of those former models who had a cooking show on The Food Network. Not that Talia watched cooking shows. Or The Food Network. Nope. Not her.

Kensi's mom was reading "The Velveteen Rabbit" to her unconscious and unresponsive daughter. Talia thought it was the worst thing she ever saw. She got Kensi's mom - Julia maybe, or Julie - a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup from a nearby sandwich place because Kensi's room was freezing. She stayed for a few hours more with Kensi's mom than with Kensi before going home. Kensi's mom hugged her before she left - making Talia miss her own Mom, dead of lung cancer for now nine years.

After a 2AM video debriefing at the DEA with an agent in Thailand, Talia found herself driving past the VA. Her post-case sabbatical was coming to an emergency end. She was off to Naypyidaw in two days. It was a week since she sat with Kensi's mom. Exhausted, she found herself stopping at the 7Eleven outside the VA before and making her way to the hospital and Kensi's room. Kensi was alone - unresponsive. The room was freezing. There was an expensive pashmina shawl draped on the visitor's chair. Talia figured it was Kensi's mom's. She probably had a closet full. Women like her usually did.

Talia sat there and told Kensi about calling to Deeks and having him not answer. Teasing, Talia said she knew how much Kensi enjoyed the attention she lavished on Deeks. "If nothing else than to piss you off, Princess," she joked. Talia couldn't help but laugh telling Kensi about running - literally running - into Callen and his blonde friend in the Triathlon. She also told Kensi about the hangout session she had with Callen just before Christmas. Based on the beer, bacon burgers and chicken wings Callen put away that night, she was stunned to see he finished the race in a decent time. "Probably impressing the blonde," Talia snarked. "And maybe his cardiologist."

Kensi never moved and it bothered Talia. "People are depending on you Princess. Hey, does that make your Mom a Queen? Regal is a good word for her. Kind too. She'd be one of those benevolent queens." Taking a sip of her coffee she added, "Wait, if you're the princess, does that make Deeks some sort of Prince Charming? He missed you a lot when you were on assignment. This has to be …." Talia was going to say killing him but you don't say that to someone in Kensi's state.

Changing topics, Talia spoke about her upcoming assignment, where she likes to stay in Myanmar and this cool looking restaurant in an old airplane with so-so food. She kept waiting for Kensi to wake up just to tell her to shut up. Around quarter to five, she asked the male nurse who just started his shift for piece of paper and an envelope. "Give me a call when you wake up Princess. We'll have sushi," Talia told Kensi as she wrote a note. "I know a place."

Deeks walked in a 6:30AM, as he had every day since he was back from Syria. "Good morning babe," he said before stopping dead. A white envelope sat on Julia's shawl.

Deeks –

Off on an assignment but wanted to say hi. Saw you at The Coffee Bean a few days back but you didn't see me. Got stuff on your mind, I'm sure. Sat with Princess last night, sat with her and her Mom last week. Sorry about all this. You both deserve better. So does her Mom - nice woman. You also deserve better than that lousy Coffee Bean swill. Talk to you when I get back. Maybe you, me, Sleeping Beauty and her Mom can have a bite at the Pie Hole.

Talia.

Deeks shook his head. When Julia said one of Kensi's friends stopped by, he figured it was either Kat, Mindy, Mandy, Tiffany or Tiffany. It was Talia instead. Deeks looked in the envelope and found a $25 Dunkin Donuts gift card. "Gotta wake up now, Kensi. I have free doughnuts. And you'll never guess who's behind the treat."

-30-