This should technically be the end of this series, and it might be. But I'm not making it complete yet because I might write an additional chapter to wrap everything up nicely. We'll see. Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, or just enjoyed this story.

"See, Four leaf clovers, those are good luck. But your abusive behavior? There's nothing good lucky about that." Deeks turns the key in the ignition of the Cadillac and starts driving immediately, before Kensi can even put her seatbelt on. "Ya know, I've never said it before, but I have a theory about you, Kensi."

"That theory is going to have to wait. Abusive behavior? Are you serious right now?" Kensi clicks the seatbelt forcefully, pinching her finger in the process. She sticks her finger in mouth, sucking as if it will somehow prevent the blood blister that's already starting to form. "I want to think that was a joke, but it's really not something you would joke about."

Deeks keeps his eyes focused on the road. "Forget I said anything."

"Nope. Too late." Kensi stares at the features on the right side of his face, taking in his clenched jaw and flared nostrils.

"I'm not tender," Deeks says, turning his head briefly to look at her. "And you can quit looking at me like I'm a puppy that you just kicked. I've been on the receiving end of a lot worse issues than you'll ever have, so like I said. Forget about it."

Looking at her bruised finger, Kensi hangs her head for a minute. She's a little uncomfortable with where this conversation is heading, but deep down below her aggressive exterior she has an extreme soft spot for all things Marty Deeks related. "What is this theory you have? And are you going to write a paper on it?" She smiles slightly, hoping that her poor attempt at a joke will cut through the palpable tension in the air.

Deeks puckers his lips thoughtfully. "You can't keep your hands off of me."

"Ha!" Kensi snorts. "This is good. Do explain, I can't wait to hear this."

"You don't know how to show affection." Deeks presses on the brakes as he approaches a stop light. "Maybe you weren't hugged enough as a child? God knows I can relate to that. But you crave physical contact and don't know how to give it. So you punch me cause that's what you know, you know how to be tough. You don't do anything soft."

Kensi tilts her head curiously. "And you've put a lot of thought into this, it seems?"

"I have. You used to hit me for being an asshole. I won't argue that. Then you'd hit me for being funny. Now you hit me for everything." The light turns green again and Deeks presses the gas pedal a little too hard, jolting the SUV forward.

"That's not true," she replies defensively.

"So for example," Deeks says loudly. "You didn't like that Talia hugged me, so that punch was your way of wrapping your arm around me because you think I'm yours and not hers. Then I called you beautiful, which is obviously something you don't hear enough. So that punch was because you wanted to kiss me." He cuts his eyes at her and enjoys the embarrassed way she's crossing her arms over her chest and thinning her lips. "Maybe you punched me in the face that one time, which actually did hurt by the way, because you were so happy that we were alive even though I screwed up big time. And all you could think about what how much you wanted to be naked in my bed again."

Deeks braces himself for impact, and even sees her fist clench out of the corner of his eye. There's no way she can hit him now, not after what he just said to her, so she retaliates verbally. "I punched you in the face because you almost got us both killed. Obviously all you could think about was me naked, not the other way around."

"So by your logic then, if Callen had chosen not to take that shot for whatever reason, you would have reacted the same way?" Deeks is trying not to smile smugly. The twisted game they play with each other is coming to a head again, and he knows he will win this match.

"Callen wouldn't do that, so your point is irrelevant," Kensi answers, twisting her face in frustration.

Pulling up against the wire fence outside of the boatshed, Deeks throws the SUV in park and turns the engine off. He makes no move to get out of the vehicle, instead keeping an eye on his mirrors as he waits for Talia to pull up behind them. "We're still good you know. And you are who you are and I am who I am. I'm just saying, maybe you should follow what you feel sometime instead of fighting it."

"You're really one to talk."

"Well, I'm trying."

"No, you're not. You're still making jokes about stuff instead of coming out and saying it. Just like you skirt around every serious issue until I force you to to talk about it."

Deeks rolls his eyes. "Didn't I just say I was trying? Didn't I just tell you that you were beautiful? You always tell me to say what I mean, and I meant that. You were the one that couldn't handle it."

She sighs and stares out the window silently for a few minutes before speaking to him again. "Whatever. I'm sorry. And I'll try if you try. But one time magically doesn't erase your previous pattern." Kensi's voice betrays her as she tries to apologize defiantly, but the conversation hit her harder than she is willing to let on.

Deeks smiles softly at her. "Okay. We're both trying to be adults. A good plan for two people that carry loaded weapons at all times."

Kensi snickers and looks in her side mirror, watching as Talia's federal car pulls into the parking lot. "Your friend is here, Deeks."

"Just because she's hot, doesn't mean you have to act so jealous," Deeks teases, nudging her with his elbow. He really didn't intend to vocalize his earlier frustration with her, especially not after the unnecessarily uncomfortable meeting with Talia. But he did feel a slight sense of relief after their conversation, and hoped that maybe she understood the point he is trying to make.

"Oh, I am so not jealous. You wish. If anything, she is jealous of me," Kensi nudges him back, and in true Kensi fashion, pushes much harder than Deeks did.

"Play nice, Princess."

"No worries. I will be very, very nice."

Both car doors close with a slam in unison, and the partners glare at each other in the front seat of the Cadillac SUV. Kensi breaks eye contact first, the severity of their case taking precedence over winning a stare down. She clenches her fingers tightly around the steering wheel. "Really?"

Deeks stares at her with a gaping mouth. "Me really? How about you really?"

"Really."

"Yes, really."

"You couldn't even form a sentence, Deeks."

"Oh. Oh. Is that how you usually play nice?"

"I was perfectly nice, thanks," Kensi snarls. "You're the one that couldn't stop staring at her boobs."

Deeks sighs in frustration. "I was caught off guard, alright? What was that even? If we hadn't gotten the call to leave I was about to pull out some singles so I could make it rain in there."

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you."

"Touché."

Kensj glances at Deeks, the frustration on his face still visible to her. "She started it."

"She was doing it on purpose," he responds through gritted teeth. "Trying to get a reaction out of us, but I think it backfired on her."

"Well, if the reaction she was trying to get out of you was idiot high-schooler with a hard-on then I think she was successful."

"Shut up, Kensi."

"So how closely did you work together while I was gone, anyway?"

Deeks stares at her, shocked. "Don't. Just don't."

"Were you undercover? Or just 'hooking up' , as Talia so eloquently put it, for the day?" Kensi's not looking at him, staring straight ahead at the road as she tries to maintain a stoic expression.

Deeks wants to scream at the top of his lungs, to shake her until she realizes how insane she is sounding at the moment. Instead of reacting quickly and saying something he might regret, he breathes in and out deeply for a minute so he can gather his thoughts first. "You think I've hidden something from you."

"It wouldn't be the first time," she responds, biting down hard on her lips.

"Okay, you wanna know the truth, I'll tell you the truth. She was undercover at the fish market where we were investigating an explosion, and we needed her help because she had inside information that was beneficial to us. So guess what, I was the guy without a partner, so we worked together. And I like her, as a friend, because she's cool and maybe a little too straightforward at times but at least she doesn't hide anything. And yes, she invited me out for drinks after we closed the case, and I said no."

Deeks can see some of the tension leaving his partner's body as her shoulders relax and the color return to her knuckles gripping the steering wheel. "Why did you say no?" Kensi asks.

"I had a lot of reasons. Most of them involved you."

"Did Talia know that? She knew my name, so what else did you say?"

Almost instinctively, Deeks rubs his jaw in the nervous way he always does when he comes face to face with his feelings for her. "Not much, and somehow too much."

Kensi shakes her head. "I don't get it."

"She, Talia, was obviously trying to see if you would...um..."

"Would what? Take my boobs out too?" A funny look crosses Deeks' face, and Kensi has to try hard to resist the urge to smack him. "Gah, what is wrong with you, stop picturing that! We are having a serious conversation here. She was trying to see if I would do what?"

Deeks presses his lips together. "Fight."

"Fight."

"For me," he answers. Kensi guffaws way too loudly at his answer but he ignores her. "Which you did."

"Did not."

"You hair says otherwise."

"What are you talking about"

"And I think you're missing a button there," Deeks fingers the collar of her shirt and she slaps his hand away. "Yup, that one was definitely buttoned before."

She fidgets with her collar. "Do you have a point?"

"Uh huh," Deeks grins widely and grips the car door as Kensi makes a sharp turn at about 70 MPH.

"Are you going to get to it?" She raises an eyebrow at him.

"You like me." He's still grinning like an idiot.

She curls her lips into a frustrated smile, complete with flared nostrils and her signature eye roll. "Not so much at the moment, but I don't see why you're so excited about this. I'm pretty sure I told you that a while back."

"You can't stand the thought of another woman even looking at me."

"And if the roles were reversed?" she asks.

"I'd fight for you, too." Deeks unbuckles his seatbelt and pulls his earwig out of his pocket as they approach their destination. "I may be a little confused and messed up or whatever, but you're the only one for me. That much I know."

A slight blush creeps across Kensi's face as she steers with one hand while fumbling for her own earwig, pushing it into her ear. Slamming on the brakes to the Cadillac, she glances over at Deeks. "You ready, partner?"

It might be a loaded question, but he answers confidently anyway. "Ready."