AN: Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that I am working on Guilty Conscience and Hey Baby. Losing the work I had was really tough, and it has taken even longer to put them back together again. But, if you do read those, please don't give up on me :)

That said, I LOVED the sneak peeks! And I've already carved out time in my schedule to watch NCIS LA live tomorrow night! AHHHH! I'm sooooooooooooooo excited!

Blessings,

bookdiva

Out of the frying pan and into the oven. That about summed up Kensi's current situation. This morning, she'd been desperate to escape the suddenly awkward conversation she'd found herself in. Now, working a case with Talia, and having to listen to her incessant flirting with Deeks, Kensi was almost desperately longing for the awkwardness of the morning.

Now, Kensi was sitting with her partner in the car, watching the house Talia had just entered. As was becoming disturbingly routine, it fell upon Kensi to make conversation in the car. It made her long for the early days of their partnership, when Deeks had talked so much she'd simultaneously longed to kill him to shut him up and been strangely grateful to him for making long stakeouts seem shorter.

"So… if the plumbing isn't done in your apartment tonight, you can, uh, stay at my place for a while," Kensi said, hoping to get a response from her strangely silent partner. "Until it's… done."

Unfortunately, she received nothing more than a shrug as Deeks again looked down at his phone.

"So… your partner can't seem to keep her hands off you," Kensi said, unable to keep the venom out of her voice. "Maybe you'd rather stay at her place."

"Hmm," Deeks nodded, clearly not paying attention as he fiddled with his phone. Kensi turned fully towards him at that, unable to believe that he was once again dropping an easy softball.

"Maybe I'll have to head-butt her again," Kensi continued, glaring at him meaningfully.

"That sounds fun," he said, typing out a message on his phone. His posture was completely tense, and his shoulders were almost up to his chin.

"Maybe Talia and I will dress up in bikinis and wrestle in the mud for the honor of your hand."

When she didn't even get a response to that, Kensi felt the frustration boil over.

He was keeping something from her. She knew it. He knew that she knew it. It was beyond ridiculous, and frankly, Kensi was reaching the end of her rope. She couldn't figure out why he would think it was okay to keep her in the dark on this. And there was only one thing in the world Kensi Blye hated more than being kept in the dark—being kept in the dark by her partner. Her boyfriend.

Finally unable to stand being ignored and shut out anymore, Kensi pulled back her fist in a method that had proven effective throughout their entire partnership. Unfortunately, Deeks chose that exact moment to look up and turn towards her.

She caught the change in trajectory on reflex, but it was too late. Her fist glanced the underside of his jaw.

In that moment, everything froze. She hit him. Not hard enough to leave a bruise, but hard enough for it to hurt.

Her eyes widened and his slammed shut, and for a long, tense moment, neither of them moved.

"Oh—oh my god, Deeks!" Kensi exclaimed when she finally collected herself. Her hands flew to her mouth and she jerked backwards. "I'm so sorry! I just—"

Deeks brought one hand up to the afflicted area, rubbing it fiercely as his eyes blinked rapidly. Kensi reached out her hand to comfort him, but he flinched away from her and back into the passenger side door.

"Damnit, Kens!" Deeks exclaimed, finally opening his eyes fully. "What's wrong with you?"

At that, Kensi felt her anger return.

"What's wrong with me?" she repeated incredulously. "What's wrong with you? You're ignoring me."

"So that justifies punching me in the face?" Deeks questioned her, his eyes flashing in frustration. "Again?"

Kensi flinched at the reminder, but she couldn't afford to dwell on it.

"You're hiding something from me," she said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I know you are. Why are you keeping me in the dark? Why aren't you talking about it?"

Deeks just let out a humorless chuckle.

"What?" Kensi almost screeched in frustration.

"Oh, nothing," Deeks said, looking out the window. "I think that's just hilarious, coming from you."

"That's not fair, Deeks," Kensi said, glaring at him. "That was almost three years ago. We were barely even—"

"I wasn't talking about Claremont, Kens," he said softly.

Kensi couldn't stop the soft gasp that escaped her lips at his words. She knew what he was referring to.

Afghanistan.

She turned forward and looked out the front window, unseeing. She'd opened up to him when she'd come home. She'd talked about the beatings, falling unconscious, and being terrified that she'd never see him again.

He'd held her through all of that. But it suddenly struck her that they'd never talked about him. His role in the mission. His fear. His pain.

And she realized that, in her quest for closure, she hadn't given him a single thought.

"Deeks," she choked out. "I—"

"That's our guy," he said, already out the passenger's door before Kensi could process what he'd said.

She jumped out, following a man who was followed by Talia and her partner. She was behind, but she knew the area, so she cut around another corner. She pushed herself harder, knowing she had some time to make up if she wanted to cut him off.

She was almost around the final corner when she heard the shot. A cold fear caused her to stumble, but she pushed it away. She needed to get to her partner. No matter what.

Another shot rang out, and she rounded the corner in time to see the suspect drop to the ground. Kensi didn't bother to stop at the suspect, instead allowing her eyes to seek out who she wanted most to see.

What she saw, however, brought her to a sudden halt. Talia was getting to her feet, gun still pointed at the suspect. Deeks, however, was not getting to his feet. He rolled onto his back, and all Kensi could see was a large, bright red spot spreading across the side of his bright white t-shirt.

"Deeks!" Kensi screamed, her body suddenly hurling into motion. She surged forward, their last conversation flashing across her mind. She couldn't even feel relief as he struggled to his feet, though her heart slammed into her throat as he staggered and lost his balance. She got there in time to support him and keep him on his feet.

"Deeks!" she repeated urgently, attempting to lower him to the ground.

"I'm fine," he said, waving it off.

"You're hit," she argued, pressing hand to his side, only to have him brush her hand away.

"I'm fine," he repeated. "It was just a graze."

Kensi opened her mouth to argue, but he held up his arm. It was dripping blood and that was what was staining his shirt.

"Deeks," Kensi let out, her voice a shaky whisper. "I'm—"

"Me too," he said, cutting her off.

"He's gone," Talia said, walking back to them. Kensi glared at her and whipped out her phone.

"Yeah," Eric answered on the first ring.

"We need an ambulance here," Kensi said sharply. Deeks looked like he was going to protest, but Kensi sent him a glare and he seemed to think better of it. "We've got a dead suspect and Deeks got grazed by his bullet."

"Ambulance is on its way," Eric said quickly. "Is Deeks okay?"

Kensi glanced over at her partner. He was unusually pale, but otherwise he appeared to be fine.

"He's fine," she said. "But he'll probably need stitches."

"Got it," Eric said. "EMTs two minutes out."

Later that night, Talia was gone. She'd bowed out early, preferring to grieve her partner in solitude. Sam and Callen had both just left, but Deeks was still sitting at his desk, typing away on his phone. His leg was bouncing erratically, the way it always did when he was nervous, hyped up on caffeine, or both.

"I am sorry," Kensi said, easing onto the edge of her partner's desk. He looked up from his intense concentration on his phone, and he finally set it down. "I know I started to say that earlier, but you didn't let me finish and we kept getting interrupted. I crossed so many lines, and… I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

He nodded, clenching and unclenching his jaw.

"I'm, uh…" he paused and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, too."

Kensi nodded, reaching her hand out to cover his. He turned his hand over and intertwined their fingers.

"You were right," he said softly, staring intently at their intertwined fingers. "I was… I guess I am keeping something from you. But," he quickly added, "I want to let you in."

"All in, Deeks," she reminded him softly. "That means 'ALL in'. Always. No matter what."

He looked up at her at that, a soft smile gracing his face before it fell away again with his gaze.

"I, uh, really hope you mean that, Kens," he said, his voice barely audible even with how close she was. "Because I… I'm going to tell you something, and… I just… there's no coming back from that. Okay?"

Kensi felt a mixture of confusion and terror threaten to overtake her, but she pushed it away. She was the one who said 'All in' in the first place. Now it was finally time for her to live up to her promise.

So, for her partner, she managed a confident smile.

"All in," she affirmed, taking his hand and pulling him out of the mission.

She tossed him her keys in a wordless request for him to come home with her. He smiled and climbed in next to her in the driver's seat. He started the car and allowed it just idle there for a moment.

"It's always been… complicated," he began, and Kensi worked hard to keep her face neutral and free from the confusion she felt. "I was in and out of foster care from eleven to thirteen," he said softly.

"Foster care?" slipped past her lips before she could stop it.

"They had to assess whether or not my mother was fit to take care of me." He took a deep breath. "Things with my mom weren't always easy." He let out a humorless chuckle. "But she's a strong woman. We don't always see eye to eye, but…"

He took a deep breath and turned towards her, and suddenly, Kensi felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Okay?" she managed, feeling her heart rate increase.

"There was no plumber," he said softly. "My mom… showed up at my place, and I—"

"Wait, now?" Kensi burst out. Deeks let out a genuine laugh.

"Yeah," he said, smiling at her. He took one last deep breath and then it all rushed out in one long, run on sentence. "She showed up at my door, and I wasn't sure what to do or how to… but then I realized that 'All in' means 'ALL in', so I'd like to introduce you to her. My mother."