"We gotta be at work in an hour and a half, how about I make us breakfast while you get yourself ready, then we'll stop by my place" Deeks told her. Kensi had no objections, as much as a part of her wanted to be alone right now, the other part was thankful for the company of Deeks. She wasn't ready to face it all on her own just yet. Kensi had lost herself somewhere along the way and wasn't quite sure why or how she had gotten into that situation.

She took her time in the shower, allowing the scorching hot water to wash away the anger and frustration that was burning inside of her. As she tied up her hair in a neat ponytail, she examined the now very dark bruise on her cheek bone in the mirror. There was no way covering it up with make-up was going to work, it would be far too obvious. But how was she going to explain it to Callen and Sam. They, like her, were both highly trained agents, they would be able to see through any lie she tried to spin. She knew that Deeks had her back no matter what and that they would find a way.

When she emerged from the shower, the smell of pancakes was wafting through the apartment. "You made this?" Kensi asked, surprised at the delicious looking stack of pancakes topped with fresh berries sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Of course! Unlike you Fern, I'm awesome in the kitchen" Deeks laughed.

"But I don't even have these ingredients in my kitchen"

"I ducked out to the store round the corner, eat up, we gotta be outta here soon" Deeks smiled.

There was a long moment of silence as they ate. Although you couldn't really call what Kensi was doing eating, it was a lot more like devouring. Deeks couldn't help the little smile that appeared on his scruffy face. She just looked so cute. He decided that now was probably the best, and maybe the only time he would get today to ask Kensi what was going on. He knew it was going to be a very touchy subject and approached it cautiously.

"What are you gonna do about…that?" Deeks asked gesturing to the dark bruise on her face.

"I don't know, it's impossible to hide without being obvious. I could say I caught a fist sparring at the gym?" She suggested.

"Could work, although you can best both Sam and Callen in a sparring match, so I'm not sure if they would believe it" Deeks said, and he had a point. Kensi was a woman who could easily beat a man twice her size, so the story wouldn't be so believable.

"What do you think I should do Deeks?" Kensi asked reluctantly. She was never the type to request help with anything, from anyone. So the fact that she wanted Deeks help with this reassured him that she trusted their partnership. Their friendship. Their thing.

"I think you should just be straight with them Kens, I mean they're gonna see through any lie so you might as well just give them the truth. I know it's not gonna be easy for you, but I'll be right by your side no matter what ok. Anything you need" he told her as he put his hand on hers, their eyes fixed on one another's lingering for just a moment longer than necessary.

"Thanks Deeks, but I… I don't want to look weak" Kensi admitted, thinking it sounded just a little pathetic.

"Kens, you are anything but weak, and we all know that better than anyone. The guys aren't gonna think any less of you because of this. I certainly don't, I actually admire you more for getting out" Deeks confessed, bringing a small smile to Kensi's face.

"We better go, we don't wanna be late" Kensi said as she grabbed her jacket and keys.

The stop at Deeks apartment was brief, long enough for him to have a quick shower and change into some fresh clothes. Kensi took the time to feed Monty and take him outside for a toilet break and a quick play. Monty loved Kensi, and although she didn't like to admit it, she secretly loved the scruffy dog too.

As they pulled up to the mission Kensi felt nervous. She held her head high when she walked into the bull pen, Deeks close behind. "Morning guys" she said to Callen and Sam who were busy debating who won the round of waste paper basketball.

"Morning Kensi… Deeks" Callen said. Closely followed by a "Morning" from Sam.

"Woah Kens, what happened to your face!" Callen asked, a slight shocked expression visible on his face as he and Sam both approached her desk. She looked over at Deeks, not sure what to say. He nodded to her as if to say 'just tell them the truth'.

"It's nothing guys, I… I just… I was dating this guy and he… he had an anger problem. But it's sorted now okay… it's … it's over now so you don't need to worry" she told them trying hard to hold back tears.

"Some guy did this to you!" Sam asked, looking angry and disgusted that a man who hit a woman like that.

"What's his name Kensi?" Callen asked calmly, but the look in his eye was anything but calm. The thought of anyone laying a hand on the woman he considered a sister was infuriating.

"Just let it go Callen okay, it's done now, besides Deeks already punched him, probably broke his jaw" Kensi smiled, a little impressed at the way he defended her.

Sam and Callen both turned to look at Deeks, a little admiration visible in their expressions as well as anger. "You knew about this and you didn't say anything!" Callen said angrily.

"I only found out last night guys, and I had to follow her home and stake out her place to do it. And when I realised what was going on I dealt with it" Deeks told them, hoping to defuse some tension.

"Are you okay Kensi" Sam asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm gonna hit the gym, you coming Deeks?"

"Be there soon Kens" he replied as she left the bull pen.

"You know what has to be done here Deeks" Callen told him sternly.

"Yeah, I'm on it, I got the bastards number off Kensi's phone, I'll get Nell to search him" Deeks told them as he ran upstairs to ops.

"You ever suspect anything G?"

"Not a thing Sam, I hope this hasn't been going on for ages, why didn't she tell us?" Callen wondered.

"I dunno, maybe she didn't want to show any weakness, you know how stubborn Kensi can be" Sam reminded him.

"Yeah, you're probably right Sam"

The two senior agents made their way up to ops and met Deeks just as he was coming out. "Got an address" he told them. "How and when do we wanna do this?"

"First things first, does he know your name and that you're a cop?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, he does, does that matter?"

"The last thing we need is this guy crying police brutality or something, sorry Deeks but you'll have to sit this one out" Callen told him, knowing that Deeks would argue, but he also had to protect the team as well as Kensi.

"Seriously?" Deeks moaned.

"G and I will handle this, besides it sounds like you've already had a good crack at him" Sam laughed.

"Allright, I'll hit the gym with Kens, But I wanna know every little detail when you get back, I bet Sam will make him cry" Deeks laughed.

And with that Deeks made his way to the gym to meet Kensi, and Callen and Sam went to pay a little visit to the bastard that bruised Kensi's face…

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read a review you guys are great.

Reminder: I do not own NCIS LA or the characters. Just a huge fan of the show.

Please keep the reveiws coming they are much appreciated!