Life, Lies and Video Surveillance
By Cortexikid
Chapter 12: Brizzle
A/N: So, to make up for missing a couple of days due to being away in the lovely Irish countryside, I've decided to post 2 chapters today. But don't get used to it folks! I do have a life! *Shifty eyes* *Cough* *Crickets* What? I do, I swear! Uh...anyways...
This is the second instalment in what I'm calling the 'Doppelgänger Series' – a wonderful suggestion put forward by SunnyCitrus10 when she submitted the word. Directly follows chapter 11. This chapter is again dedicated to her. Thanks again! =]
Disclaimer: NCIS: LA isn't mine. Neither is jealous!Deeks but wow, he is fun to write about!
WOTD: BRIZZLE; briz·zle verb. To scorch near to burning or to singe.
"I mean seriously, Hale? What kinda name is that?" Deeks grumbled, his foot jiggling as he pursed his lips.
Eric and Nell exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised as they watched the agitated detective pace back and forth in Ops, waving his hands around as he murmured more to himself than to them.
"Uh..." Eric mumbled hesitantly, not really knowing if it was a rhetorical question or not.
"And he's an accountant too! An accountant! Since when does Kensi like suits?"
Nell opened her mouth a fraction before Eric caught her eye and gave a tiny shake of his head. Deeks (unaware of the tech-geniuses' silent communication) continued to wear a hole in the floor, his arms still frantically waving, cutting like knives through the air.
"All I'm saying is, accountants shouldn't have new-wave names okay? They should have old-fashioned and boring names like 'Louis' and 'Edgar' and—"
"Martin?" the voice of his partner asked from behind him, stepping into the room.
Three pairs of eyes whirled around to look at Kensi, who was standing stock-still, arms folded, her gaze narrowed as she stared at her partner. Deeks at least had to decency to look sheepish, shoving his hands into pockets, staring at the floor.
"Uh yeah, Martin's kinda an old-fashioned name," Eric agreed as Nell rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah well Eric's kinda a stupid name," Deeks growled as he glared at the tech-operative who in turn just stared at him, confusion written across his face.
"Hey Deeks, isn't your real name Martin?" Nell questioned, looking pointedly at Eric, not-so-subtly reminding him what the 'Marty' in 'Marty Deeks' stood for.
Eric's response (bug-eyed embarrassment followed by gaping worthy of a goldfish) would have been hilarious had it not been for the rapidly increasing tension in the room.
"Yeah, technically it is Nell. But the only people who have and will ever call me that was the priest who baptised me and the priest who will—"
"Cryogenically freeze you?" Kensi interrupted, her head tilting to the side, a sharp hilt to her tone.
"Do you remember everything I say?" Deeks asked, his tone too adopting a sharper hilt than his usual teasing tone.
"Just the stupid stuff...so yeah, mostly," the NCIS agent replied, stepping closer to him, a glare furrowing her eyebrows.
Eric and Nell exchanged another worried glance as the partners edged closer to one another, their stares unwavering from the other. They were doing that thing again, where they forgot that there were other people in the room and they weren't the last two human beings in the entire universe. It was getting annoying really...
"So, when is your next date with Mr. Tall, Blond and Boring?" Deeks asked, ignoring the soft groans of Eric and Nell as they were forced to be subjected to another one of the partners' many date-discussions that had been happening sporadically over the last two months.
"Tonight," Kensi replied with a shrug, trying and failing an air of nonchalance.
"Where are you and vanilla-ice going? Auditing seminar?"
Kensi let out a huffed 'ha!' with a shake of her head.
"I'm making him dinner, if you must know..." she snipped as a broad smirk spread across her partner's face.
"Seriously? This coming from the woman who passes off store-bought cookies as her own and burns toast?" he scoffed with a snort, apparently finding the situation highly amusing.
"I'm making him my signature dish actually, something I make quite well," she groused, "not that it's any of your business..." she trailed off, apparently fed up with the discussion, exchanging a fleeting look with Nell who interjects politely:
"Uh guys, we got that surveillance if you wanna take a look."
The partners were then engulfed by their professional mode, both turning to look at the giant screen in front of them. Eric let out a little puff of air before he rolled his chair over to his computer and rolled the tape.
Unfortunately, after the viewing and relevant hypothesizes had been exchanged, Deeks couldn't contain his curiosity anymore, "so, what's your cover?"
Kensi turned to him, her eyebrows raised in question.
"Waitress/aspiring actress? Secretary/aspiring writer? Oh! I got it... sales clerk/aspiring top-less model! That's it, isn't it? Please say yes..."
Her expression went from questioning to annoyed in two seconds flat.
"I'm Kensi Dawson, art-curator. Sexist much?"
Deeks grinned before laughing, shaking his head.
"Art curator? You're seriously still going with that?"
"What? I've brushed up...and besides, he's not that into art and—"
"Wait, you know enough about him already to know he isn't that into art?"
"Well, let's just say, I get the feeling he's more of a dogs playing poker kinda guy."
That seemed to shut Deeks up. For about three seconds.
"His last name isn't Winters is it? Does he hate the Summer time? Wait—is his best friend Rain Man?"
Kensi glared at him before turning on her heel and storming out of Ops, Deeks hot on her heels as Eric and Nell watched their departure with mild interest.
"So, for your anniversary, I'm guessing a weather vane is outta the question?"
The tech-operator and intelligence-analyst heaved simultaneous sighs as Deeks' and Kensi's voices disappeared down the hall.
"Those two are ridiculous," Nell grumbled, a look of impatient exasperation on her face.
"I know, right? And they're so obvious too! Who do they think they're fooling?" Eric replied, staring intently at his computer screen.
Nell glanced sideways at her 'partner' as he said this before shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
Sometimes there were things that just weren't worth saying out-loud.
Soft glimmers of moonlight illuminated a darkened living room as flashing images zapped across a muted television screen. On the couch directly in front of it, lay a sprawled and slumbering blond man, hair and clothes rumpled from sleep. It had been another tiring day for one Detective Marty Deeks, so much so that he didn't quite make it to his bed before he collapsed in exhaustion.
It was barely past 8pm when he first crashed, half undressed with the full intention of showering and going out for the night. He'd spent the entire day with his partner on a stakeout that ended in a long chase and a gripping gun-fight...just another day at the office of NCIS: OSP. With aching bones, the LAPD liaison bid goodnight to his colleagues and trudged home, mind reeling over the day's events – his partner's plans for the night being one of the most frequent.
Suddenly, the loud vibrations of a ringing cell-phone on silent mode jumped across the coffee table, interrupting the quiet night and catching the attention of a large, scruffy dog. Ears perked up from a dog-bed in the corner before Monty scampered towards his master and licked his hand, nudging him with his head. Deeks' eyelids fluttered as he groaned, slowly waking up.
Monty began to whine as his owner seemingly ignored him and his ringing phone instead shuffling on the couch, burying his head further into it.
"Monty—knock it off," he grumbled, his voice slightly muffled as he pressed his face into the cushions.
Finally, the annoying buzzing stopped as did his dog's whimpering. Deeks heaved an inaudible sigh, willing sleep to come fast and for his rapidly instructive thoughts to stay at bay long enough for slumber to claim him. The universe must have thought otherwise however, as not three seconds after the phone stopped vibrating did it start up again, this time sounding somehow even more persistent.
Deciding that the sooner he answered, the sooner he could go back asleep, the detective groaned and threw out his arm, his hand connecting roughly with the table, his fingers clasping tightly around his phone. Still sprawled face-down on his couch, Deeks answered, not bothering to hide the tiredness in his voice.
"'Lo?" he murmured, one hand raking through his messy hair.
"Deeks?" came the slightly frantic voice of his partner before it was drowned out by a loud, continual alarm.
"Kensi!" Deeks sat bolt upright on his couch as he heard the commotion over the phone, suddenly wide awake, his eyes round and alert.
"Kensi, what's wrong, are you o—"
"Deeks, I'm sorry I—I didn't know who else to call I—" the beeping grew louder as a stream of very creative curses were grumbled under Kensi's breath.
"Where are you? At home? I'll be there in two minutes," Deeks leapt up off the couch, one arm already in his jacket, stumbling towards the kitchen to grab his car-keys.
"No Deeks it's—dammit—" the line went dead.
Ice-cold dread ran down the detective's spine and settled deep in his stomach.
This couldn't be good.
"Kensi? Kensi come on, open up or I'll have to—"
The door swung open and interrupted Deeks abruptly.
"Whoa," he breathed as his partner – clad in a tight, deep-purple dress, soft, brown hair in a loose bun – was revealed.
"Yeah, yeah, get in here," she rambled, reaching out and clasping Deeks' arm and pulling him into her house and slamming the door behind him.
"Easy there partner, at least buy a guy a drink first," he smirked as she proceeded to pull him further into her living room.
Kensi remained silent and continued to drag him through the room.
"What's goin' on Kens? Where's the fire?" he asked, pondering what the big rush was.
"In the kitchen," she replied nonchalantly, her back still turned to him.
"WHAT? I was kidding!"
Deeks' chest collided with her back as she halted abruptly, letting go of his arm as she threw her own arms up in the air, helplessly gesturing to the kitchen which was now filled with smoke.
"Oh crap, what the hell happened?"
"Fire gremlins came into my kitchen and set fire to the place – what the hell do you think happened?" Kensi scolded sarcastically, opening her oven door wider and coughing as she waved her arms frantically, trying to fan out the smoke.
Deeks smirk spread across his face as he watched her lean over the oven. All of a sudden, he was Justin again and they were playing house, fake-baking cookies and sleeping in the same bed and accidentally pointing guns at little boys...good times.
"I take it this is...was your signature dish?" he asked, gesturing to the smouldering lump of charcoal in a casserole dish on the sink, singed, polka-dotted oven-mitts laying haphazardly beside it.
"How'd you guess?" she murmured pseudo-sweetly, leaning over the sink to open a window.
Deeks' response died in his throat as he watched her left leg bend back slightly, her heel pointing to the ceiling as she leaned. It was then that he realized two things, one – she seemed shorter than usual and two – the reason for that was because she was barefoot. For some reason, seeing her all business up top with the fancy dress and the carefully done hair and make-up, only to have her bottom half more...natural made him smile softly.
In a flourish, she whirled back around, wiping the back of her hand over her brow, blowing out a puff of air, looking a little flustered as small beads of sweat clung to her forehead. It was a cute look on her. The usually calm and collected Kensi a little...out of control. His smile grew bigger.
"What?" she asked suspiciously as she caught him staring, her eyes raking down over dress for a moment, looking slightly unsure of herself before her polychrome eyes met his again.
Deeks adverted his stare quickly, instead darting his eyes around the room, drinking in the sights.
"Wow...this place looks like the 'How Clean Is Your House' people have been through it. You must like him."
The downward infliction in his tone at the end of that sentence was not missed by either of them but was steadily ignored.
"So, where is all your...stuff?" Deeks asked curiously, his gaze squinting as he carefully inspected the place, as if her multitude of random objects would just suddenly appear out of thin air.
Kensi bit her lip and looked around at her abnormally spotless house before her gaze flickered to her closet outside the kitchen door.
"All your stuff's in the closet isn't it?"
"Not a word, Deeks."
"No point, it's all probably escaped to Narnia by now."
The partners shared a laugh at that. Deeks shuffled his feet as Kensi twisted a cloth in her grip.
"Why am I here Kens?" the detective asked gently, his cerulean eyes raking over her face as she stared at her bare feet.
"I—"
The shrill sound of a doorbell interrupted her and the NCIS agent started nervously, eyeing her partner despairingly.
"And—that would be my cue," Deeks gestured over his shoulder and made to go, turning on his heel and making his way back out to the living room before Kensi could utter a word.
Open-mouthed, the brunette stared at his retreating back for a moment before her brain caught up with her and realized just what was about to happen.
Oh shit!
She scrambled and stumbled out into the living room but it was already too late. There, standing opposite one another, gaping openly, was her partner and her date, two tall, well-built, slightly-scruffy blonds, one dressed in worn-jeans and leather jacket and the other in pristine black khakis and brown shirt.
Kensi tried not to gawk at the two of them as they stood there in silence, their dissimilar eyes raking over the other with curiosity, confusion and shock.
Well, this is awkward...think Blye, think!
"I—"
"Hi, I'm Marty," Deeks interrupted her, apparently recovering from his surprise, holding out his hand for the other blond to shake.
"Hi, I'm Hale," Kensi's date replied, clasping the detective's hand in his.
"Huh, look at us..." Deeks turned to Kensi, Hale's hand still in his "a cop and an accountant, I can save his life...and he can do my taxes!"
Kensi stared at him intently before clearing her throat and gesturing for Hale to come in.
"Hale, come in, De—uh Marty was just leaving," she faux-smiled, deciding to forgo last names, she wouldn't put it past her partner to run a background check on Hale and certainly didn't want the accountant knowing the cop's full name.
Hale stepped into the room, holding out a bottle of wine for Kensi to take. Kensi flashed him a tight grin before her eyes settled back on her partner, trying to convey her meaning through expression.
"Well, I better get going..." Deeks said, turning around and taking a step towards the door, understanding her perfectly.
"So, how do you and Kensi know each other?" Hale's words halted his movements abruptly. Slowly, Deeks turned back around and stared at his partner expectantly.
"He investigated an attempted robbery at the gallery a couple of years ago. We kinda...stayed in touch," Kensi replied, a pointed look directed at her partner before turning back to Hale.
"Uh, yeah, we kinda...clicked," Deeks finished, he too turning his attention to Hale so he could avoid the glare that he was 98% sure was directed at him from the vicinity of a certain brunette.
"Oh! You must be the surfer," Hale laughed, clicking his fingers and gesturing between the partners.
Deeks turned, a little leer on his face as he looked at Kensi keenly.
"You told him about me?"
"Oh yeah, she talks about you all the time," Hale cut in with a grin.
"Is that right?" Deeks tilted his head at Kensi, looking positively gleeful, as if all his Christmases came at once.
"All good things I hope," he continued as his partner walked briskly towards him and began shoving him towards the door.
"Okay, thanks for stopping by Marty—see ya in a couple of weeks," she rambled, shoving him in the back with a particular roughness, her cheeks flushing as he stumbled out the door and turned to look at her, a little...something spread across his face.
Mismatched eyes met a deep blue as Deeks straightened up and Kensi held onto her door. The two were engulfed in a short silence as they stared at one another before Deeks' gaze lingered over her shoulder towards where Hale stood. Gradually, his expression morphed into something different, something a little darker, all traces of his previous mirth gone, as the accountant moved closer to his partner and gave him a small-salute in goodbye.
"Yeah, bye Kens," he half-whispered as Kensi nodded, swallowing roughly before closing the door with a snap, leaving the detective outside in the cold, dark night, staring blearily at where she once was.
Alone.
A/N: So, yeah, angst-alert! I promise I'll semi-fix it in the next chapter which will be up tomorrow =]
~Ck