"Crazy month, huh?" Eric said as he popped another French fry in his mouth.
"Hmm?" The sound of Eric's voice brought Nell back from her own thoughts.
"All the news we've gotten lately. First Kensi is pregnant with Deeks' baby…"
"Which really isn't a big surprise," Nell interrupted him.
"Wait, you knew sooner? Why didn't you tell me?"
Nell shrugged her shoulders and picked up her drink. "Girl talk. It's sacred."
"Right," Eric replied, not wanting to even think about all the things those women discussed when they were together. "And how about the thing with Callen and his dad? That is totally random."
Hetty had finally shared the results of the blood samples with Callen, who hadn't taken the revelation easy. He had been told he would be officially off the case because of the possibility of a conflict of interest with a family member. Callen tried to argue all his points to stay on the case, which Hetty gracefully denied.
"That was very strange, his dad's DNA showing up at one of our crime scenes. Have you noticed that Callen is having a hard time staying away from this case?" Nell said, somewhat distracted.
"Yeah, he tried bribing me with a bag of Oreos the other day for information. I had to say no because Hetty was on her way up. I'm pretty sure Callen is out there trying to find the guy himself." Eric helped himself to a few more fries as he looked across the table at his girlfriend. She was staring out the window.
"Nell, are you ok?"
She sighed and turned her face back to the table. "Yeah. Just waiting for you to continue."
"Continue?"
"On to the other news item of the month. The one regarding me," Nell said.
Eric nodded slowly. "I, um, wasn't going to bring that one up."
"Why not? You might as well. It's not like we can forget about it, and I can't hide it from you. I also know you're not happy about it, but I don't want to fight with you at work about it. I figured that's why you wanted to go out for lunch today," Nell responded hastily.
He knew he had to choose his words carefully or sleep on the couch that night.
"I don't want to fight with you either. We both know how the other one feels, so we just have to find a way to deal with it. I choose to not bring it up unless I have to," Eric told his beautiful partner.
"Really? That's your solution – to just ignore it and hope it goes away? Eric, two things: one, this is a good thing, and two, it's only temporary," Nell said before taking a bite of her turkey and cheddar wrap.
"You know that I don't like this," Eric replied. Hetty had informed Nell that she would be Jenny's partner in the field for the time being, due to Kensi's pregnancy. Kensi was only allowed in the field for very limited interviewing, and she could be at the boat shed for interrogations.
"Eric, come on. I've already explained to you that I don't really have a choice. It's not like I can tell Hetty no." Nell was getting annoyed by the same old argument. "Plus, I'm kind of excited to get out and learn some more about being a field agent on actual cases. Hetty wouldn't send me out if she didn't think I was ready."
Eric frowned. He was in between that rock and hard place of being both co-worker and boyfriend. He wanted to be supportive of her career goals, and it was an honor to be asked by Hetty to go out with her élite team. She had personally hand-picked each person on that team, including Jenny and now Nell. However, Eric also wanted to protect Nell from everything he knew could go wrong out there.
Nell spoke again, laying down her food. "I get to wear a gun, and Sam and Callen will almost always be with us. Jenny will always be with me as my partner, and she is a fully trained agent. I'm going to be fine, Eric. Very safe. Why can't you be excited for me?"
"Excited? That the woman I am in love with is going to be facing some of the worst scum on the earth, face to face, and usually with dangerous weapons?"
"Is there another kind of weapon other than dangerous?" Nell asked with a smile.
Eric shook his head. "Nell, I'm serious. I want to be supportive of this, I really do, but I also know what can happen and that scares me. Aren't you even the slightest bit scared or nervous?"
"You know how we stay in ops when the team goes out? How we hear all their requests and monitor everything going on the area to help them out? And how they can't do their job without us doing ours in ops?" Nell asked him.
"Yeah…." Eric replied, not sure where she was going with this line of questions.
"When I am out with Jenny and Sam and Callen, I know that you will be the one in Ops guiding me, watching out for me, hearing my requests and needs. I don't need to be afraid; I know I can do my job because I know you will be there for me doing yours," Nell concluded, reaching across the table and grabbing Eric's hand in hers.
"Of course I will be watching out for you. I always do. But there is one thing I am still afraid of," Eric said hesitantly.
Nell looked at him curiously. "What's that?"
"Getting back late from lunch and having to face Hetty. Let's go!"
Several weeks went by with not much more to go on concerning their serial killer case. There were no new bodies and no new evidence about the previous ones. NAS Fallon and WSMR were still under high alert, but had nothing suspicious to report so far. The team had worked a couple smaller cases that finished up quickly, but this case still bugged them - especially Callen.
Eric leaned over the railing and whistled. "Hey, Callen, I need you up in Ops. You have a video call coming in from Paris."
"Paris?" Jenny asked. "Since when do we have a case in France?"
"Not that Paris," Kensi answered her partner, shaking her head. "Paris Summerskill, an NCIS agent on the Red Team we worked with a while back."
"Yeah, a certain agent Mr. G. Callen has a thing for," Sam added with a smirk.
"There is no thing with Paris. We're professional associates," Callen replied as he walked up the stairs trying to ignore his co-workers.
"Right," the team answered almost in unison as they joined him upstairs.
Callen looked up at the large screen where the Red Team agent appeared. "What's up Paris?" Kensi could have sworn there was a hint of a smile on his face.
Paris informed Callen and the rest of the team that they were in New Mexico on a case. It appeared their case was related to the serial killer case they were working on in LA and San Diego. A chief petty officer had been found dead in the missile assembly facility at WSMR. He was killed with one gunshot to the head, the same as the other victims, and no signs of a struggle. The chief was in charge of the various weapons projects the Navy detachment there worked on. His computer was being scanned and analyzed at the time, and Paris said they would share all details of their case with OSP as they learned more.
At Hetty's request, Nell called NAS Fallon. They were the only west-coast base on their shortlist that did not have a dead body yet. She learned in her conversations with several people that one civilian employee had been missing for the last three days. The base couldn't reach him on any of the contact numbers they had on file, he hadn't requested any leave time, and no one had heard from him. The OSP team told the commander at Fallon that they would look into the disappearance and see what they could find out. They were all secretly hoping they would find him – alive – on a last-minute vacation or something. One dead body a day was enough.
The team got busy, each with a different direction to look in: Fallon security footage, the man's financial records, phone records, emails, internet history, his home and neighborhood, and several other facets of his life to be dug through and examined. Kensi especially was grateful for this newest development in the case. While it is never a happy job to look for a missing and/or dead person, it gave Kensi something she could do without leaving the office and putting herself in danger. It also helped the time pass faster until Deeks would be home from his agent training.
Several weeks later...
Deeks drummed the end of his pencil on the desk in front of him. He picked up his phone with the other hand, stared at the screen, then set it down again. He was supposed to be studying for the written exam tomorrow but couldn't concentrate.
After another minute of pencil drumming, he threw it down and stood up. Nervously he paced back and forth between the window and the door of his room. During the fourth trip, he grabbed the phone off the desk, dialed a number and waited. Someone picked up on the other end.
"Hello? Hi, yeah it's me… I know it's been a long time. I'm sorry."
"Look, I'm out of town right now, but I'll be home in a couple of weeks. Could we – could I come over when I get back?"
"No, I don't want to fight or argue… No, I'm not in trouble. I just – look, I need to talk. There have been a lot of changes in my life recently, and I really need someone to talk to. I was hoping maybe it could be you."
"Really? That, uh… that sounds nice actually. I would like that." Deeks sat on the edge of the bed, feeling some relief over the course of the conversation.
"Maybe. I can't make any promises, but I can say a definite maybe. Ok?"
"Great. I look forward to seeing you again, too. Yeah, I know. Me too. Bye."
Deeks set the phone down. There was a lot to talk about, but he felt better. It was the right thing to do. Two more weeks to go, a few more exams to take, and he would be on a plane back to LA as Probationary Special Agent Deeks.
Just as he was about to go back to studying at his desk, his phone beeped. He had a new text message.
Hurry up and come home. I'm out of ice cream. – K
Too lazy to go get some yourself? – D
Lazy? I am working my ass off making your child. – K
Right. Can your craving hold off two weeks? I can stock your freezer then. – D
Might be a few more cravings you need to satisfy by then...- K
Knew you couldn't live without me – D
And of course you're always right LOL! – K
Of course – D
Getting sleepy. No ice cream so nap instead – K
Ok. Night Kens. Night baby. – D
He set the phone down and headed to his desk, this time with a smile. Soon…
Sorry for the long delay in updating. What can I say - real life keeps getting in the way of my writing time. Also, writing casework is not a strong area for me, so I am only including the essential info to move the story along. Sorry if it seems a bit disjointed. Hope you enjoy this segment, and yes to all who have been wondering - Deeks will be back very soon! Thanks for the support!