"Saké?"
Deeks stares at their server at the Fish Market, who's holding a bottle of Sake outstretched towards him. "Um, no thanks. Water please?"
"Oh come on, Deeks. We're celebrating," Sam admonishes. He is sitting with his arm draped around Michelle, who gave Deeks a giant bear hug and a kiss on the cheek when he joined them at their table. No matter how many times Deeks wipes his face, he can't manage to get all the lipstick off of his cheek. Next to Michelle are Joelle and Callen, sitting comfortably close together. Deeks had greeted her with his usual "Hi nice to meet you, no please, call me Marty." She'd smiled sweetly at him, and he started to agree with Sam that maybe she was a 10 after all. Hetty completes the circle at the table, quietly sipping her saké .
Deeks squints his eyes at Sam. "What are we celebrating exactly? Did I miss something?" Glancing briefly down at his phone, he sighs when he sees there are still no new messages.
"Good food, good friends. Joie de vivre," Callen answers. He tilts his head at Joelle, who returns the gesture and runs her hand across Callen's thigh.
"Right. Of course." Deeks can feel himself growing more and more flustered as the night progresses. The server brings his water to him and he gulps half of the glass down before standing up from the table.
Hetty stares at him, frowning as he pushes his chair away from the table. "Is everything alright, Mr. Deeks?"
"Yeah, no, I'm good Hetty. I'll just be back in a minute. Order me the Kamikaze rolls, tuna?" Hetty nods yes and Deeks excuses himself from the table. Stepping out of the restaurant he takes a deep breath of fresh air and exhales forcefully. He pulls his phone out again and types a text message to Kensi. 'i know you don't want me to text your phone anymore but i'm starting to worry. just say something.'
Running his hand through his hair, he walks briskly away from the restaurant until he finds a bench to sit on. He hangs his head and stares at his phone, remembering the last conversation he had with Kensi just three days before.
"You alright Kens?"
Kensi paused on the other line of the satellite phone. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Deeks grunted at her response. "We all know what THAT means. I'm serious. Talk to me, is something wrong? Are you in trouble?"
"Sometimes fine is just fine, Deeks. I've probably just been in-country too long."
The tone of her voice disturbed him, a mix between sad and frantic. "I don't believe you."
"Thanks."
"No, you don't sound right. I need you to tell me what's going on."
"It's classified," she responded flatly.
Deeks huffed. "Enough of this classified crap. I'm not talking about your damn mission, I'm talking about you."
"Don't worry about me, Deeks."
"Not gonna happen." He rubbed his hands across his mouth. "Kensi, you made me promise you something a while back. I need you to promise me, too."
"To be patient?"
"No," he said firmly. "Promise me you won't get yourself killed."
He could hear her sigh over the phone and thought he heard what sounded like a small sniffle as well. "I…" she started. "I don't know if I can make that promise."
He didn't respond, unable to grasp the depth of the conversation they were having at that moment; her implication was too much for him to handle.
"Deeks."
"Yeah."
"I promise I'll try my best."
Deeks pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger before rubbing his damp eyes. "I'll take it."
"Text at 6 on your Tuesday?"
"Yeah," he responded. "Be safe."
"Night Deeks."
He stared at the satellite phone in his hands and breathed in and out slowly, attempting to calm his nerves. When his breathing exercise didn't work, he chose another outlet; he hurled the phone against the wall.
"Come on, just say anything," Deeks mutters at his silent phone. Dejected, he stands up and starts walking back to the restaurant. The last thing he wants to do at this point in time is eat dinner with his co-workers, but he puts on his best happy-Deeks face and reaches for the door. His phone vibrates right as he opens it; a text message from Kensi: 'I'm fine.' Biting down hard on his lip, he puts the phone back in his pocket. Although relieved to know that at least she's alive, her message did little to comfort him.
"You good, Deeks?" Sam asks when Deeks rejoins everyone at the table.
"Yeah," he replies, scooting his chair back up to the table. "But I think I'll take some of that saké now."