AN: (WARNING: THIS WILL BE A RANT. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.)

Okay, am I missing something here? Are they dating? What the heck? Do the writers just really like playing with us? What?! Dang it, NCIS: LA. Dang it, why is Deeks so precious and Kensi so stubborn, and everything so stinking confusing!?

Okay, I'm good. I'm done now. This is based off the second sneak peek, with a hint of the first one (I for one thought both Kensi and Deeks had a right to their slightly indifferent approach to Hetty's predicament). I hope you enjoy this :)

Blessings,

bookdiva

"I could do this. I could handle living on a yacht."

We'd be perfectly at home.

"On your salary? Maybe a rowboat."

I regretted the snide comment the moment it escaped my mouth, but it's not like I could take it back. And it was a heck of a lot better than my first thought.

"Not if I had a shipmate," he lobbed back with a laugh. I had to smirk at that, grateful for possibly the millionth time that he was able to take my mind off the serious stuff and make me laugh.

"You'd need about 20 shipmates to make this work, Gilligan."

"What about you?" he pondered, catching my gaze briefly.

"Nah," I shook my head. I'd feel way too out of place among all these snobby rich people. "It's too rich for my blood."

"No, I mean as a shipmate," he clarified—if you could call that clarity. I turned to look at him, but he was consciously avoiding my eyes. "Me and you. Split bills, save some money, maybe get a cooler place."

"A-are you serious?" I choked out.

Was this seriously happening? It was like raccoons and knives and boxes and the opposite of communication all over again.

"What? I'm non-smoking. I'm tidy and professional. I put my dishes in the dishwasher," I laughed at the absurdity of the fact that he was attempting to "sell" himself to me. I didn't need the sales pitch, thank-you-very-much. "I buy toilet paper before it's even necessary. That's incredible."

My god, I thought to myself. This isn't real. I'm having an out of body experience right now. This is so not real.

"I would live with Monty before I'd live with you."

Not true.

"Yeah, that goes without saying," he said, opening the gate for me, "'cause Monty's a catch. I'm saying that we come as a package deal."

Of course he would bring this up at work.

"Oh, so I get a dog and a mutt?" I teased him, desperately trying to pretend that this wasn't serious. "No thank you."

"Touché," he said with a smile, and for a second I thought everything was going to be fine. Then he turned slightly away.

"All right, that's fine," he said, giving me a slight pause. It wasn't like my partner to just drop something like that. "It's probably better this way. I couldn't put up with your hoarding anyway."

It was a deflective joke, one that he made with a slightly forced laugh.

"Okay, for the thousandth time, I'm not a hoarder," I defended myself the way I knew he expected me to.

"Oh, you're a dirty little hoarder." He lengthened his stride, leaving me staring at his back. "You're hoard city."

My mouth opened and closed several times as I tried to think of some way to defend myself.

"You're not… serious," finally managed to squeak out my lips. I paused, but he didn't respond. "Are you?"

He couldn't be.

"I guess not," he said. I opened my mouth to respond, but he'd already boarded the yacht we were at the marina to find and identified himself to the man aboard.

I followed my partner onto the boat, standing beside him as he handled most of the interview.

Shipmates, I tossed the word around in my mind as Deeks spoke with the man who was apparently just a hired hand. It was scary, sure, but what was even more terrifying was how un-scary it really was. The thought of living with my scruffy partner was… not necessarily unappealing.

Shipmates, I mused to myself. That doesn't sound too bad.

Later that night, Hetty was safe. Physically, at least, if not necessarily politically. Deeks didn't seem too torn up about Hetty's position, and to be honest, I didn't feel as guilty as I thought I would.

Still, my partner had been quieter than normal—something he'd been able to get away with with the guys because of the Hetty situation—and I knew what it was about.

It certainly wasn't concern for Hetty. While I doubted Deeks actually hated her, he didn't seem as concerned over her welfare as he would've a year ago.

"So what do you think, Kens," Sam's voice cut into my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I asked, blinking and looking up to see both senior agents looking at me expectedly. I glanced over at my partner, but he had his back to me as he packed up his things.

"You up for some drinks? Deeks is bailing, but we're gonna celebrate a successful day." Sam looked at her expectedly. "You in?"

I took a deep breath.

Shipmates.

"Actually Sam," I said, doing my best to hold back a smile, "I have a lot of work to do at home. That is… if my shipmate doesn't have other plans."

Both senior agents let out a confused chuckle, most likely thinking I was making fun of Deeks, but my partner straightened and turned around.

He met my eyes as if to say "Seriously?"

I just nodded.

Shipmates, I mused once again as I met my partner's still-surprised-yet-slightly-hopeful gaze. That sounds pretty damn good.