Author's Note – No profit to be had here, just having a bit of fun with a show I love.
Also, a warning, one or two things here are going to be starting to be based on some Spoiler stills I saw on the season premiere, but I won't tell you which ones. How they even fit are pure speculation on my part – all I saw were some stills from the set.
Once again, thank you for all of the lovely reviews and all of the follows and favorites – they mean the world to me, but with my work and time looking after the little one, I'm lucky to even find time to write! Thank you!
Deeks pulls the SRX up to the service entrance of the Four Seasons. He parks and quickly checks his comm and ankle holster before locking the car and heading inside. Their target is clearly not expecting to be identified, because he isn't stopped by any sort of security on his way in. He hopes it'll be just as easy for Kensi and Talia, as he doesn't want them to get busted for carrying before the op even starts.
He checks in with Nell and Eric to test the comms, and a moment later he lets out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding when Kensi does the same. He feels slightly guilty when he's actually surprised to hear Talia check in too – he hadn't been waiting for her. He mentally chastises himself for that, as she's just as vulnerable on this op as Kensi is.
The event is set to start momentarily. Deeks gets behind the bar and begins to familiarize himself with the set-up. It's an open bar, and he was given instructions to make whatever is requested. He won't have a problem with that. He tended bar on occasion in college and law school, and he's also done so on more than one undercover op. He gives the liquor selection a once-over, and he has to admit that he's impressed by the variety – it's also all very high end, top shelf stuff.
He gives a nod to the bartender at the other end of the bar, and he's stunned to realize that it's another cop, an undercover from LAPD, someone younger but who Deeks has worked with a few times. The event is set to start in a few minutes, so he quickly moves towards the man saying, "You want the well, or should I take it?" He refers to the end of the bar where the wait staff will come with beer and mixed drink orders from the tables. The hotel has another spot for wine and non-alcoholic drinks.
The LAPD undercover nods and indicates that he'll take the well. A quiet conversation later confirms that his undercover name is Jake Ryland and that he was placed by Bates as back-up. Deeks is a little stunned when "Jake" says that Bates sent him knowing they don't have their usual team. Deeks realizes that it was also a nod to the end of a long working relationship, and he once again reminds himself to reach out to his former boss when this is over.
As the event begins, more and more people come to the bar. He already has all of the entrances and exits mapped in his head, so if things go sideways, he can grab Kensi and Talia and go. He also worked out a signal with Jake so that he'll know who Kensi and Talia are. He's mixing a martini for an overly-flirtatious fifty-something when he hears Kensi's voice in his ear. "I'm here in the valet line, Matt," he blinks when she uses his fake name, but then he pours the martini and hands if off to the lady at the bar, giving her a grin when she leaves him a big tip. Talia confirms her presence in the valet line over comms a second later.
He turns for a moment to rinse out the martini shaker. He uses that moment to reply, "Glad to hear it Lauren, you too, Whitney. I'm guessing you might've heard me talking to the other bartender, have an ally at the bar, another method actor courtesy of my old boss." He knew that at least Kensi would get the reference to an undercover LAPD officer.
She proves him right when she says a moment later, "Whitney, that means an LAPD undercover."
Talia's voice comes back, "Got it, Lauren, thanks for the explanation. Got to go. My turn to drop off my wheels. See you soon, barkeep."
Deeks swallows a laugh, and he hears Kensi chuckle over the line. "Same here. Stay safe."
The line goes quiet except for the sounds of background noise, first of the parking line, and then of the hotel lobby. He goes back to helping the event attendees approaching the bar. It's a relatively small event, so while the flow is steady, it isn't a madhouse by any means. Because of that, he can keep an eye on the door.
Several male heads turn when Talia enters in her red halter dress, and he has to admit that he can't blame the guys for looking. In particular, he sees Jake staring at her wide-eyed. Deeks gets his attention and scratches his right ear, the signal they worked out for Deeks to identify Kensi and Talia.
Jake nods and swallows hard, and Deeks grins before going back to the bloody mary he's mixing. He passes it to the customer just as Kensi comes in, and he signals Jake again. The man comes over when there's a break in the action, and he mutters, "Yeah, I'd have quit for a job with ladies like that too." He trashes an empty bottle of bourbon and holds his hand out.
Deeks shrugs and hands him a new bottle, the cover working well for their conversation. "The one in the skirt and top is off limits. Red dress is available, as far as I know, but you'll have to ask her," simultaneously, he hears both Kensi and Talia snort over the comms, "But you know they're both here for the job right now."
"Off limits, eh?" The man smirks. Deeks just gives him a hard look, and Jake waves his white towel in mock surrender, and he retreats back to the well with the bourbon.
"Bartender?" A familiar voice gets his attention, and he turns to see Kensi standing there.
He wipes down the bar in front of her, and she delicately places her small beaded bag on it. "Please feel free to call me Matt, ma'am. What can I get for you?"
"Can I get a club soda with a twist?" She smiles, and it's a soft Kensi-smile, not an undercover flirty smile.
"Of course, ma'am." He lifts an eyebrow and gives her an overly-amorous smile in return. "Anything else?" The way he says the words is suggestive, trying to push her more into character.
She blinks and her face changes. She curses herself internally, but he just looked so adorable after she heard him being protective and territorial that she slipped out of her role for a moment. "Just the drink, Matt." She looks him up and down lasciviously, "We'll see about anything else later, depending on how things go."
His heartbeat picks up at her words, and he's glad for the distraction when hears a laugh and sees Talia down the bar flirting with Jake. He gets Kensi her club soda, and she drops a twenty in the tip jar with a wink and sashays away, adding a little swing to her walk as she goes. He continues to serve the other party-goers, but his eyes are never all that far from Kensi.
Talia moves through the room well, making herself very visible, and Kensi does the same. About twenty minutes after they arrive, Maalouf comes in the door. Deeks quietly alerts them over the comms, "Target is on site." Neither Kensi nor Talia say anything, but they both give almost-imperceptible nods.
He watches the target work the room, shaking hands with the various guests, urging people to participate in the silent auction and later saying a few words thanking them for their generous donations. He continues to keep an eye on him as Talia and Kensi both discreetly hover near him, looking for a moment to make some sort of personal contact. It's difficult, as he's frequently speaking with business associates, men identified via facial recognition by Eric or Nell and reported to them over comms.
Finally, they get an opportunity when Maalouf breaks off from his associates to get some food. There is an elaborate brunch buffet set up, and Deeks' antenna goes up when he sees Talia take a place in line for it right behind Maalouf.
As luck would have it, the person behind her actually trips and pushes her into Maalouf, who turns in surprise and catches her, breaking her fall. She's in total "Whitney Keller" mode, flirting and acting mortified to have run into him, even as she braces herself on his shoulder, gripping it with her right hand, her fingertips slipping beneath his blazer's collar.
He's very solicitous, and Deeks can easily see that the man is damn-near salivating at the sight of her in that dress. He hates himself a little for the flash of relief he feels at the fact that Talia was the one to catch Maalouf's eye.
Kensi heads towards him at the bar, still in flirtatious character, and she orders another drink. The bar traffic has slowed down, so she takes a seat at the end of the bar, able to face him but also to watch Talia. Maalouf has her sit at his table, and he goes and gets them both some food. Pretending to straighten her hair and looking in a mirror from her purse, a moment later they hear her murmur, "Just put a tracking device on his shoulder, under his collar."
Kensi, as Lauren, gives Deeks a dazzling smile. "Well done, Whitney." They hear Talia snort again. Deeks can't help but admire Kensi and Talia. He's pretty sure that the two of them and Nell probably came up with the idea of just tracking Maalouf together. If nothing else, it at least makes it possible to track him instead of one of them having to actually go on the yacht.
For the rest of the event, Kensi stays at the bar pretending to flirt with Deeks (well, mostly pretending) and watching Talia with Maalouf. They can pick up all of her words to him, but they only catch a word of his here and there. Kensi and Deeks both perk up when they hear Talia say, "Oh, a party on a yacht? That sounds lovely, but I barely know you."
After a low rumble from Maalouf, they hear Talia laugh and agree to meet him at the marina in the afternoon. He slides her something on a napkin and leans close to her, and they clearly hear him tell her he's looking forward to it and that he'll see her in a couple of hours, but that he has to go for now.
The man gets up and walks away, looking back at Talia more than once. She gets up and straightens her dress, moving smoothly towards the exit of the room. Kensi grabs a bar napkin and scrawls something on it before handing it to Deeks. It's a note that just says that she'll see him later, but anyone watching them would probably think she's just a rich girl hitting on the cute bartender.
She gets up and leaves too, as the crowd thins out. Fifteen minutes later, the cleaning crew comes in, as all of the guests are gone. Jake comes down to Deeks' end of the bar. He holds out his hand. "Evan Whitestone. It's been a few years. I used to work a lot with Jess Trainer."
Deeks winces a little at that name, but he shakes the man's hand. "That's right, I remember you. The last time was a drug ring out of a little studio in Venice, right? That was right before she got assigned as my handler."
"Yeah," the man nods, "Last time I worked with Jess. I'm sorry about what happened to her. I know you two got close."
Deeks nods back and runs a hand through his hair. He removes his comm before replying, "We did. She was a good cop and a good friend."
They turn and walk out towards the service entrance. As they go, an older woman, one of the people on the cleaning crew, follows them, calling after them that they forgot their tip jar. Deeks looks at Evan, and Evan shrugs and nods. Deeks turns to the woman, winks, and smiles. "Keep it, ma'am."
Getting tears in her eyes, she splutters out an amazed thank you, and both men smile even wider before turning and leaving. As they continue out, Evan asks, "The one in the skirt, she's your…?"
Deeks hesitates before replying honestly, "My everything. Kensi's my everything."
"That's great, man. She seems pretty kick ass."
They stop at the SRX, Deeks motioning to it to indicate that it's his. "She is. Talia is too, for what it's worth. Give me your number. I can pass it to her if you want me to."
Evan trots over to his car and grabs a piece of paper, scribbling his number on it and handing it to Deeks. "Thanks. Is she NCIS too?"
Deeks grins and climbs in his car, closing his door but opening the window. "Nope. DEA. And I'll do what I can. She's a cool lady."
"OK. And Deeks?"
"Yeah?"
"Bates won't ever say it, because Bates never says it, but he's going to miss having you around." He gives him a mock salute. "Take care of yourself, man."
"You too, Whitestone." He returns the salute and starts the car, following Kensi and Talia back to the mission as planned.
**KD**KD**KD**
Kensi pulls the Aston Martin into the garage at the mission, and she's followed closely by Talia in the Mercedes. She knows Deeks isn't far behind, but she wants to talk to Talia before they go inside. She gets out as Talia is doing the same. "Talia?"
The woman looks at her. "What's up, Blye?"
Kensi walks over to her. "You know you don't have to do anything if the tracking device doesn't work or gets left behind, right? That you don't have to get on that boat?" Talia looks confused, so Kensi explains, "Look, you and I both know that getting on that boat with him and his friends would be crazy dangerous. At a certain point, it's just insanity. You barely know Sam and Callen – we're asking a lot of you."
Shaking her head, Talia says, "I'm getting on the boat, Kensi, if we can't track Maalouf with the device I put on him. It's not just about Agents Callen and Hanna. We both know that. If you were me, what would you do?"
"I'd get on the boat." Kensi sighs. "OK, I understand it, and I appreciate it. But we need a safe word in case you need us to try to pull you out fast."
"How about 'noodles?'" Deeks walks up to them with a smile, guessing that Kensi is trying to talk Talia out of getting on the boat.
Kensi can't help but snort out a laugh, and Talia just says, "I'm not going to ask. But sure, why not? Noodles it is."
Deeks nods and hands her the piece of paper with the LAPD undercover's phone number on it. "Detective Evan Whitestone. He wanted me to pass you a note after study hall, so here it is."
They all walk towards the door into the mission. Deeks wraps his arm around Kensi's waist and looks at Talia. "You going to call him? He seemed like a good guy."
"You trying to set me up, Marty?" Talia lifts an eyebrow at him.
"Maybe." He grins at her, just glad that she has gotten the message and stopped flirting with him. "And by the way, I can guess that Fern here was telling you that you do not have to get on Maalouf's damned yacht."
"She was, but she knows I will if the tracker doesn't work," she clearly realizes what he said, and does a double-take. "And wait, Fern?"
Kensi throws her hands up and tries to escape his arm around her. "Oh my God, don't ask." She gets away from him and goes to wardrobe to change, this time into one of her own shirts, knowing his will be too big on her if they have to see action. Talia and Deeks follow her, Talia laughing as Deeks explains the provenance of the nickname.
Twenty minutes later, the three of them are up in ops with Granger, Eric and Nell. They're anxiously watching the tracking device, hoping that he keeps the blazer with him. Granger is briefing them on the plan of what they'll be doing, regardless of whether it's the tracker or Talia on the yacht. He is the only one who didn't try to talk Talia out of getting on the yacht.
Eric also got Kaleidoscope going on Maalouf's car, and he's keeping an eye on that as well, tracked to the Chateau Marmont. So far, the tracker and the car are still there. As he and Nell watch both, Granger manages to surprise the three agents.
"I have an LAPD chopper lined up, and I have a small team of NCIS agents armed and ready to accompany you," he looks at Deeks, "Agent Deeks, the downside is that the chopper pilot's wife just went into labor, and all of the other LAPD chopper pilots are either off or out on other calls. Bates hasn't processed your resignation yet. He's going to do it when this mission is over, so you're still going to be covered on their insurance policies. I think you know where I'm going with this."
Everyone else in ops is staring at Deeks. He mentally curses himself for not mentioning this to Kensi before. He clears his throat. "So, um, you know how I disappear sometimes on the weekends and you guys all think I'm just surfing a lot?"
Kensi puts her hands on her hips. "Am I going to need to get another dollar out?"
"You might." He shrugs. "Sometimes I'm surfing, but sometimes I'm getting hours to keep my qualification up to date."
"Your qualification to do what exactly?" Kensi furrows her brow and gives him a hard look.
Granger actually laughs, a sound they don't often hear. "I'll put you out of your misery, Detective-slash-Agent Deeks." He looks at Kensi. "His qualification as a chopper pilot. He'll be the one flying you all today."
Before Kensi can say anything, Nell says, loudly, "Damn it."
They all look over at her. As Eric stands by with a slightly ill look on his face, Nell blushes slightly but explains, "Car, is moving, jacket is not. I'm sorry, Agent Del Campo."
"No need to be sorry. I kind of expected it." She looks at Kensi and Deeks, who both look ready to argue with her. She holds her hand up to stop them. "I'm going. I'll go get my dress back on. Just be close by, OK?" She turns to go.
"Talia?" It's Kensi who speaks, surprising them all. She turns back. "Be careful, OK? And good luck."
"You too. See you all soon." With that, she's gone.
Granger doesn't let them dwell on it. "No time to waste, you two. Gear up. Blye, your sniper rifle has been returned to the armory. Get it and whatever other weapons you want. It's go time." They both nod grimly and, with quick, tight smiles to Nell and Eric, they head for the armory.