"Deeks." Sam called out as he passed Deeks walking towards the coffee station the following day.
"Sup?"
"You talk to Kensi?" Callen asked standing up to approach the Detective and his partner.
"Oh. Yea. Everything's fine." Deeks said while pouring a cup of coffee. "She went back to the doctor a few weeks ago because of the aches she's been feeling lately at night. They gave her another prescription to take as needed."
"Deeks, I don't think everything's fine." Sam said gently.
"What do you mean?"
"We're worried."
"That prescription is almost empty and it was meant to be a 3 month supply. She's clearly been taking more than she's supposed to." Callen said.
"You don't know that." Deeks argued.
"No, but we can make a pretty educated guess. And she's been irritable and unfocused." Sam said.
"That could be a lot of things. Come on guys, she was out in the hospital and in rehab for more than 6 months. And now that she's back she's still getting back into the groove of things."
"Well, either way, something's off. That and if she truly requires any kind of prescription medication to be able to physically function, she probably shouldn't be out in the field yet. And that's given this is the best case scenario." Callen said.
"What do you mean… what do you mean best case scenario?" Deeks stammered.
"The scenario where she's not abusing drugs, Deeks." Callen said bluntly.
"Are you out of your mind?" Deeks asked sounding insulted.
"Deeks, think about it." Sam said gently.
Deeks rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "I'll give you that she hasn't seemed like herself lately, and yea she's still taking prescription pills, but come on, think about what you're saying." Deeks said raising his voice a bit in frustration. "But come on, there are half a dozen better explanations than the one where she's abus…" Deeks paused and reigned in the volume of his voice. "abusing drugs." he finished.
"It doesn't matter what we think or not Deeks or what the actual scenario is. Best case or worst case scenario, something's gotta chance, and she's gotta be able to get off those pills."
Deeks blew a slow and long breath out of his mouth.
"Alright, well, regardless of what we do next, we need to tell Hetty first." Sam said.
"NO! We cannot tell Hetty. We're not even sure if we're right, and saying something could ruin her career, and her life. We need to be careful here, because if we're wrong we're going to lose her." Deeks pleaded.
Callen replied calmly, "And what if we're right, Deeks? We're gonna lose her in a whole nother way. A worse way."
"We have nothing concrete to prove that she is abusing drugs."
"We know enough." Sam said.
"Deeks, she's been on pain meds now for almost a year. Whether or not she's addicted she's gotta get off of them. And that can be really hard."
"Deeks, Hetty will know how to deal with this, and she can do it discreetly. You remember Mark, my first partner? She kept that quiet. And Kensi has been under her charge way longer than Mark ever was. She's gonna have her back. We all will." Sam reminded everyone.
Deeks sighed deeply. "Alright. Alright. I'll talk to Hetty." Deeks said solemnly.