AN: I mean, come on. This HAD to be done. And really, that's all I've got to say…

Blessings,

bookdiva

"Alright, here's the deal: You get to the hospital, see if you can interview Wilson. I'm gonna go back to his house, see if I can find anything," Deeks said, his words flying a mile a minute. "Can I ride with you?" he directed his question towards Talia, and Kensi once again felt that uncomfortable tightening in her chest.

"Yeah. Sure," Talia agreed, matching Deeks's tone and speed. "I'll call in the other agents and brief them there."

For a brief moment, Kensi stood there completely frozen. Watching her partner walk away from her with Talia—regardless of the fact that it was his job—stirred something deep inside her. And she didn't like it one bit.

"You know what," she said, pulling herself together and deciding to do something about it, "on second thought, why don't you question Wilson. I'll ride with Talia."

"What?" Deeks said, skidding awkwardly to a semi-halt by Talia's passenger door and shooting her a confused look. "Why?"

"Because I don't wanna go to the hospital," Kensi stated, internally wincing at how see-through her excuse was. She hoped he'd just drop it, but it was Deeks after all.

"You're the one that wanted to question him," he said, cocking his head to the side. Kensi ignored how adorable it made him look and pressed on, determined to keep her partner away from the DEA… woman… at all costs.

"No, I said somebody should question him. It doesn't have to be me."

"Do you want me to question this guy?" Talia asked, interrupting an intense stare down between the two partners, only annoying Kensi further.

"No!" both partners snapped sharply.

"Okay…" Talia smirked and slid into the driver's seat.

"Fine," Deeks finally relented with a huff, clearing his throat. His tone and body language clearly suggested he thought she was being ridiculous, but he also recognized that—at the moment—they didn't have the time to argue about this.

"Thank you," Kensi nodded and slid in the door he'd already opened for her. He didn't look at her, he just shut her door. Through the open window she heard him muttering as he turned away from her.

"I will go to… the hospital… then…"

Break

"So you don't like hospitals, huh?" Talia asked as they were exiting the house.

No, but I'd sure like to put you in one, Kensi thought to herself. She barely managed to keep her mouth shut.

Talia just smirked at Kensi's tense silence and continued.

"Although there are hot doctors and nurses at hospitals, so they don't have to be all bad."

Again, Kensi managed to keep her mouth tightly closed.

"But to be honest," Talia continued causally, "at the moment I'm not really looking for a hot doctor. I'm kinda diggin' the whole man-in-a-uniform thing at the moment."

Now Kensi could taste blood in her mouth from how hard she was biting her tongue.

"I'm thinking maybe a Detective," she said with a knowing smirk. "What do you think? Does he have a weakness for a smoking hot brunette with a gun that I can maybe exploit?"

It was the last straw for Kensi.

"You need to step off," Kensi said in the most controlled manner she could manage.

"You need to let that boy under your hood for a little oil change. Before somebody else does."

Talia's response sent Kensi reeling for half a second.

"Is that a threat?" she demanded, stepping into the other woman's space.

"It's a fact," Talia smirked condescendingly.

"Well here's a threat," Kensi said, taking yet another step forward so that they were nose-to-nose. "Stay away from my partner, or—"

"That sounds like a warning," Talia cut her off. "Get out of my face before I break that pretty nose of yours. That is a threat."

Kensi just smirked—words had never been her strong suit anyways—and before she processed the consequences of her actions, her head came forward and broke Talia's nose with a satisfying crack.

Talia's fist was quick to respond and split open her lip, but Kensi didn't really mind. It gave her an excuse to retaliate again. She was about to when two DEA agents came and pulled them apart.

As the adrenaline cooled, Kensi came back down and wanted to kick herself.

Damn it, she chided herself. How the hell am I going to explain this to Deeks?