A/N: Here's chapter 9! I've really been enjoying all the wonderful comments and suggestions from chapter 8. Most of you were right on the mark with where I'm headed, so that's very reassuring! There were also a few suggestions that I really liked, so those might make their way into upcoming chapters. Stay tuned!

Don't forget to favorite/follow/review!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: Los Angeles

Mid-September blew in with an early start to peak surfing season. Once the heat dissipated, people were itching to spend every moment they could in the water. Deeks and Paul were doubling up with the other employees at the surf shack, especially on weekends, and even then, it was almost too busy for them to handle.

Midterms were fast approaching, and Deeks was taking every precious minute he had to study as well as surf the best waves of the year. If his years of self-sufficiency had taught him anything, it was how to balance all of his commitments. But even now, he was struggling to keep up with it all.

Paul was in the same boat, as were most of their classmates. Deadlines for applications for spring internships were quickly becoming more visible, and the most competitive internships were making people edgy, Paul among them. He kept nudging Deeks to apply, but Deeks still wasn't sure he wanted to. He had applied for a placement at the public defender's office, as well as the District Attorney's, but he wasn't 100% committed to either.

Deeks and Paul were on the same work schedule, as they had been since they began working together. Nico, the owner of the shack, didn't even notice he was doing it anymore, Deeks thought. They were a package deal, as they'd been for 6 years. Now, however, there was a third person who was always there whenever they were both working: Christine stopped by nearly every day when she got off work at one of the tourist shops down the beach. She'd shake her long blonde hair out of her cheesy employee-required cap, sighing when it fell around her back. Then she'd strip off the polo she was wearing, revealing a bikini top, and she'd sit at the counter, where Paul would bring her something to drink and she'd vent about her day dealing with irate customers.

Deeks was glad that Paul was getting along with this girl. His confidence had skyrocketed since they'd met at the party, and he walked around with a swagger that had previously not even existed in the sphere of Paul Rickards. And he seemed to have forgotten about his crush on Kensi, which Deeks was thankful for. They still weren't completely back to normal, but not having that tension between them was a breath of fresh air from the last few weeks.

Christine, it turned out, was a decent surfer, one of the many things that she and Paul had in common. She was getting a degree in family law at UCLA, and it turned out that they were from the same neighborhood and their parents had run in the same social circles. Christine was a little rougher around the edges than Paul, and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, but Deeks saw how it was bringing out the confident Paul that only showed himself in the most comfortable of situations. Also, he smiled a lot more, and Christine blushed every time one of those smiles was directed at her. Deeks wasn't really a romantic at heart, but he could see this becoming a lot more, and he was happy for it.

It was one of those afternoons that Christine came by while Deeks was doing schoolwork at the counter. The waves were bigger today than he's seen since the weather broke, and he was sloppily finishing up notes on a case study, burning to get out on the water. He'd worked a gruelingly busy afternoon shift, with wannabe surfer dudes and beach bunnies out looking for prey bombarding him and Paul with orders, their impatience just feeding the irritation behind the counter. When it had finally quieted down around dinner time, Deeks had immediately pulled out his work while Paul cleaned up a little before the after dinner rush.

"Hey!" Christine called from across the sand. She'd already taken off her cap and her hair streamed behind her as she ran across the beach.

Paul smiled—there was the blush—and waved, "Hey. How was work?"

Christine sighed and dropped onto the stool next to Deeks, plopping her bag into the sand. "Fine," she grumbled. "Were you guys just as busy as us?"

"Don't even get me started," Paul replied, bringing over a bottle of water. Christine uncapped it and took a generous drink before setting it back down.

"God, we had this mom, and I mean, seriously, who brings their kids to the beach in the middle of a school day? But anyway, this woman had, like, five little kids running around pulling all the stuff off the shelves and she wasn't doing anything about it and when I told them to quit messing up the store, she goes, 'Oh, they're just having a little fun' and completely ignored it."

Deeks and Paul looked at each other. "Was she wearing a green bathing suit with shorts?" Paul asked.

Christine's eyes widened, "Yes! Did you witness her horrible parenting too?"

"We may have been the ones to give the kids sodas and candy bars," Paul answered apologetically.

Christine mock glared at him for a second. "So you're the reason half the merchandise in our store is on the floor," she accused teasingly.

"Hey, she paid me. What else was I supposed to do?" He tossed back, laughter in his voice.

Christine shrugged, still grinning. "When do you get off? A couple of my friends are meeting up at Sal's tonight and they want to meet you."

Paul looked at the clock over the bar and said, "In about half an hour. That is, if Brian shows up on time for once. Give it 45?"

Christine smiled at him, and said, "Sure. I'm gonna get changed and hang out here for a bit, if that's cool."

"I haven't stopped you before," Paul teased, causing Christine to laugh as she stood up.

"Hey, Marty, you're free to come too, if you want," Christine said to Deeks, who had been listening to the conversation quietly.

"Ah, no, I'm going to have to turn you down. Gotta get this done," he pointed to the case studies with his pen. "Thanks, though."

Christine just shrugged and walked around the shack to changing room on the other side of the building. Paul watched her go and then turned to Deeks, a goofy grin on his face.

Deeks just smiled and shook his head. "You've got it bad, man."

"I won't even deny it," Paul said, dumping the contents of the blender into the trash and then rinsing it out under the tap. "I think this might actually work out. I just…Marty, I really like her."

"I can tell," Deeks laughed. "Meeting her friends? Dude, that's a step."

Paul put the blender back on the counter and turned, wiping his hands on a towel. There was that familiar worry in his eyes, and Deeks wondered when familiar with Paul started to mean worry and fear rather than just Paul. "You think they'll like me?"

Deeks put his pen down in his book and rested his forearms on the counter. "You get along with Christine pretty well; I don't see why her friends wouldn't like you."

"Yeah…you know I'm not the most confident person, though. What if I choke up?"

Deeks looked at his friend, and his lack of confidence was blatant in his posture, his face, his voice, every part of him was deflated, so different from how he acted around Christine. It was disconcerting for Deeks, who was used to Paul being the shadow to his show, to see his friend acting so confident around a girl and then turning around and voicing his concerns.

"Just go with it. Have a few drinks, maybe hold her hand. Trust me when I say she'll reciprocate. She's got it just as bad for you."

Paul's face lit up a little, "Really?"

"Dude," Deeks said, surprised. "Seriously, she's totally into you. Don't worry about that."

Paul's goofy grin was back and he said, "Thanks, man," just as Christine returned from the changing room.

"What are you guys talking about?" She asked, sitting back down.

"The waves," Paul lied smoothly.

Christine's hands flew up and she said, "Did you see those swells earlier? God, I could have been surfing, but instead I was making sure those grimy, sugar-hopped rugrats didn't destroy the store."

Deeks looked back down at his book and picked up his pen, shaking his head with a small smile.

"Ok, Kens, look at me," Monica said, sitting cross legged on the couch. Her mouth was full, her hair was piled on top of her head, and she was makeup-less and wearing sweatpants. Not the Monica most people got to see, but Kensi was exempt from the population. There was a carton of chicken in between her legs, her fork having been momentarily abandoned inside. She swallowed and held up three DVDs, "Legally Blonde, Love Actually, or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days?"

Kensi chewed slowly, mulling over their choices. She swallowed and said, "Not Love Actually, that's a Christmas movie."

Monica put the DVD on the coffee table, where it fell between the bag of rice and sauces, and two open beers. She held up the remaining two movies in either hand, waving them up and down like she was a game show hostess.

Legally Blonde was getting much more airtime, however, and Kensi giggled and grabbed it from Monica's hand. "Why do you even give me a choice when I know we're going to end up watching this one?"

Monica shrugged and abandoned Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey's smirking faces alongside the other movie. "A little variety never hurt. But Elle Woods will forever be my idol."

Kensi rolled her eyes and hopped up from the couch to slide the DVD into the player. Her hair was in the same state as Monica's, and her old boxer shorts were never allowed to see the light of day. That's why she was wearing them for movie night. The start-of-the-year parties had died down and the semester was well under way, with everyone preparing for midterms. So this particular Friday night, Monica had come home with two movies from the rental place (she owned Legally Blonde) and put in an order for Chinese, and Kensi had uncapped two beers. In Kensi's opinion, this was what a Friday night should look like: just two friends hanging out and watching movies. Even when she had been with Jack, it was a ritual that Kensi and Monica got together at least once a month for a girls' night, sometimes inviting Quinn or their other friends, but mostly it was just the two of them. It was a way for them to catch up after their busy schedules kept them from seeing each other for long periods of time. Even though they now lived together and saw each other all the time, their movie nights had not ceased. If anything, they'd become more frequent.

The previews for the movie started up and Monica settled back, taking another bite of her chicken. Kensi took a swig of her beer and settled in as well, tucking her feet under her. She leaned her head back against the couch and looked over at Monica, who was fiddling with her phone.

"What's up?" she asked.

Monica sighed and put the phone down on the table. "Nothing." Kensi raised an eyebrow. "Don't get weird on me, okay?" Both of Kensi's eyebrows shot up. "God, fine, okay. I've been talking to Will."

Kensi sat up a little straighter. "Will? Like, Will Peters? Private Will Peters?"

"You said you wouldn't get weird!"

"I'm not!"

Monica huffed in exasperation. "Yes, that Will. I gave him my number at the party and we've been texting and chatting online. And now he's being really cryptic and not giving me straight answers."

"Will's a pretty cryptic guy in the first place," Kensi pointed out.

"Yeah, but we've been really progressing and now he's just completely stopped giving me anything to work with flirting-wise. It's so frustrating!"

Kensi really didn't have anything to say to that, but Monica did. "Could you, maybe, talk to him next time you see him?" She asked, a pleading look on her face.

"I don't know, Mon. He's kinda shy, maybe this is his way of saying he likes you."

"Come on, Kens, please? I like this guy," Monica said. Her voice was just short of whining.

"Fine."

Monica smiled and sat back in her seat. "Thank you."

They turned back to the movie, Monica pleased and Kensi just confused. It wasn't that she didn't want to help her friend. It was more that Monica had a way of making you do whatever she wanted. It was a gift, really, and it was going to make her a hell of a lawyer.

They watched as Warner broke up with Elle and Elle subsequently realized that Harvard was the only way to get her man back. Monica scoffed and said, "Honey, you can do so much better."

Kensi laughed, "You say that every time we watch this."

"I know. It doesn't mean it's not true."

By the time Elle had gone to the disastrous "costume" party—Monica cackled at her exchange with Vivian—and started to focus on being a lawyer, Kensi had finished her beer. She stood up and stretched her legs, grabbing her bottle. "You want another?" She asked, holding up her bottle.

Monica picked up her own bottle and drained it. "Yes, please."

Kensi picked up the remains of their dinner as well and threw it out. She grabbed two beers from the fridge and the pint of ice cream from the freezer, along with two spoons. Beer and ice cream weren't the greatest combination, but it was tradition, and Kensi wasn't going to break tradition.

She plopped back on the couch and took the cap off the ice cream, holding a spoon out to Monica. Monica tore her eyes away from the TV and took the spoon, grinning. "Yes," she said in glee. "Rocky Road!"

Kensi smiled and dug her spoon into the carton and took a bite. Monica did the same and they smiled at each other around their mouthfuls of ice cream.

Officially, their first movie night had been when all the girls in Monica's dorm had gotten together for a chick flick marathon their freshman year. Monica and Kensi were already good friends by then, so naturally, Monica invited Kensi. There'd been about three dozen girls crammed into the tiny common room, passing around cartons of ice cream and bowls of popcorn. Monica had snagged the Rocky Road immediately and she and Kensi held it hostage, passing it between themselves secretly, giggling the entire time.

There were other movie nights after that, of course, but the first time Monica and Kensi had a movie night with just the two of them was the fall of their sophomore year. By that time, they were best friends and knew everything about each other. So when the attacks in New York happened and Jack was called to based, Kensi called Monica, terrified that he would be called overseas to fight and needing someone to fill the space of the empty apartment with chatter and distraction. Monica picked up a movie, a pizza, and a carton of Rocky Road—which made Kensi laugh through her worry—and they ended up falling asleep in Kensi and Jack's bed. Jack had woken them up at six in the morning when he came in and almost sat on Monica on the bed, not knowing she was there.

Ever since, through stressful finals weeks, Monica's breakups, and Jack's deployments, it was always Rocky Road, and their movie nights hadn't changed. Of course, there were some things Rocky Road couldn't fix, but Kensi preferred not to think about that. She also tried not to think of how different it would be after this year. How these movie nights would probably cease to exist after graduation.

"Have you talked to Marty lately?" Monica asked, swallowing her ice cream and breaking Kensi out of her thoughts.

"No," Kensi answered slowly, wondering where she was going with this. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Monica replied. "You guys seemed to be on better terms at the party."

Kensi sighed and put down her spoon in the ice cream. "We were, and I think we are. It's just…I know what he wants out of this, but I don't know what I want. I don't know if I'm ready."

Monica put her spoon down, too and turned closer to Kensi, ignoring the movie. "You don't have to be ready for anything. He's a really great guy, and I think he gets that you need time. He's actually trying to figure you out," she said with a giggle. "It's really cute. I think you can trust him, Kens."

Kensi bit her lip and looked down, picking at the blanket. "It just feels weird, you know? I haven't thought about anyone but Jack in four years, and I feel like I'm betraying him somehow."

Monica put her hand on Kensi's knee and leaned in, looking into her eyes. "You don't owe Jack anything, Kensi. He left you. It's been almost a year. You deserve to be happy and to move on."

Their conversations about Jack were few and far between. Monica was always really careful with her words, Kensi knew, which was unusual for her chatty friend. But she didn't let that stop her from voicing her opinions of distaste for Jack. She had stood by Kensi's side throughout everything, and had been the first to notice that something was off with Jack. She'd told Kensi so, but Kensi refused to believe it until it was staring her in the face. Monica didn't blame Kensi or tell her "I told you so", though. Instead, she acted as a support for Kensi, letting her drift away when she needed to take care of Jack, and come back when she couldn't handle it. Kensi was grateful to have a friend who was so understanding and who she could trust with everything. To the world, she could handle anything, but she admitted to herself that not having someone to share her life with would be exhausting and hard.

Kensi nodded, looking up at her friend. "I don't know if I can do it," she said quietly, letting her vulnerability show. She wasn't sad, but scared.

Monica's hand on her knee squeezed and she said, "Give it a chance. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Hell, you never have before, why start now?"

Kensi snorted and rubbed her hands over her face, pushing her palms into her eyes. She let go and looked at Monica. "Thanks."

Monica sat back and picked up her spoon again. Smiling, she said, "Anytime." Then she bumped Kensi with her foot and pointed back at the screen. Kensi picked up her spoon and turned back to the screen as well, just in time to watch Elle's triumphant celebration of winning her internship.

Kensi never really used the library her first few years of school. She'd always thought it was too quiet and solitary. Last January, however, she'd learned that those qualities were very helpful when she wanted to get away from her friends and their attempts to help her. Sometimes, being alone and surrounded by silence was just what she needed to forget, just for a few hours, and actually get some work done. Now that midterms were approaching, Kensi was spending nearly every day in the library, during the breaks she had between classes. She always situated herself in one the corners on the law floor, at a table that was mostly hidden from view behind a wall. On one side of her, there was a window that looked out over the quad. On the other, the wall to an office that Kensi had never seen anyone use. It was perfect.

She was working away on her laptop, typing up a forensics report. She had two hours before her next class and it was the only time today that she'd be able to finish it. Otherwise, she'd have to do it after she got home from training tonight, and then it would take her way past her normal bedtime.

Kensi went to take a drink from her water bottle, but found that it was empty. Figuring that now was as good a time as any to take a break, she got up to refill it. The drinking fountain was on the other side of the floor, and Kensi walked between the stacks and banks of computers to get there. She passed a few people she knew and waved at them with a small smile, not stopping to say hello. She had no time to socialize today.

She was refilling her water bottle when she heard someone call her name in a whisper. She looked towards the staircase, where Deeks was just coming to the floor. He had a smile on his face and he waved as he walked over. Kensi stopped the stream of water and recapped her bottle.

"How did I know that I'd see you today?" She asked.

It was meant to be rhetorical; she had a feeling she'd run into him sometime soon since she and Monica had talked. But he answered anyway, "Because you haven't stopped thinking about me since the party?"

Kensi raised an eyebrow and said, "I wouldn't go that far."

Deek's mouth quirked into a grin, making her stomach flutter. "Mind if I work near you?"

Kensi shrugged, not trusting herself to say anything, and turned to go back to her corner, not sure if she minded or not. He followed, not giving her room to choose.

Deeks sat down across from her at the table and pulled his laptop out and plugged it in. It whirred to life as he set his notebooks and case files on the table. Kensi watched as the case files piled up. "How much do you have to do?" She asked in amazement.

Deeks grimaced. "A lot. Our professor is acting on a case right now and he's making us do all the dirty work."

"What kind of case?" Kensi asked, genuinely interested.

"Some cartel thing. He's the defense attorney, so of course we have to find stuff that helps the convicted. It's ridiculous that he even took this on; there's no way he's going to win it for these guys. There's too much stacked against them."

Kensi set her computer aside and leaned in, looking at the name on the case file. Molina. She pulled the top one towards her, "You mind?"

Deeks shrugged and shook his head, looking perplexed. Kensi opened up the file and skimmed the page, already knowing what it would say. It was basic information about Carlos Molina, stuff she already knew from working on the same case in her forensic and criminology classes. This was a big case. Carlos Molina, one half of the duo that headed up one of LA's most notorious cartels, had been caught at the scene of a triple homicide. The trials were due to start soon, and of course, some of the highest ranking lawyers in the city were working on it. A few of those lawyers—and the head of the forensics team that worked the scene—also happened to be professors.

"I'm working on the lab report for this case," she said, turning her laptop to face Deeks. He looked at it, confusion replaced by understanding.

"That stuff was done months ago. Is your professor just having you do it for exercise?"

"No. He found an inconsistency and wanted to see if we could spot it too."

"Did you?"

"Yes," Kensi answered, unable to keep the pride out of her voice. "There were three different forensic specialists in that warehouse. One was gathering evidence from Molina's office, one was examining the victims—that was my professor—and one was looking at the murder weapons."

"The gun, the syringe, and that damn coffee cup."

Kensi cracked a smile, "Right. Molina used the gun was used to shoot its owner: the cop. The bodyguard, Cesar, used the syringe full of air on one of the girls who were counting money, and supposedly, the cop used the coffee cup to knock Cesar unconscious. It ended up killing him, instead."

"What do you mean, 'supposedly'?" Deeks asked, looking closer at the report.

Kensi zoomed in on the screen and pointed, "My professor looks at his whole team's reports, just so he can catch stuff like this. That coffee cup? It has different fingerprints on it than any of the other weapons. One of the specialists must have messed up when he filled out the report. We know Molina used the gun and Cesar used the syringe, but the prints on the cup aren't a match to anyone in the case, not even the girl's."

"Sloppy paperwork," Deeks said. Kensi nodded in confirmation. "So…we have another murderer on the loose."

"Correct. Dr. Cramer should have turned in his findings by now and they'll be running the prints. Whether they get a match is up in the air."

"Were any unfamiliar prints found around the scene?" Deeks asked, using the touchpad on her computer to scroll through the report.

Kensi said, "Not that I know of. So what it seems like, is that whoever killed Cesar came in, did the deed, and left without any trouble. It's like he appeared out of thin air."

"Or she," Deeks pointed out.

"Or she," Kensi agreed.

"Wow," Deeks breathed, sitting back. "That throws an entire wrench into everything. We know that Molina shot the guy, but if there's evidence that there was another killer on the scene, he could argue his way out of this pretty easily, especially with Healy on the case."

Kensi cringed, "You have Healy?"

Deeks nodded grimly.

"God, he's an awful man," Kensi said, turning her computer back around. "Monica had him last year and he basically told her that the other job she would ever find would be in a strip club because no one was going to take her seriously for 'looking like that'." Kensi held up air quotes. "Sexist pig," she grumbled.

"I'm pretty sure he has a special hatred for me," Deeks said, pulling his case files back to his side of the desk. "Apparently, a scholarship kid like me is incapable of making it anywhere beyond Reseda. He's making it extra hard for me to graduate."

Kensi looked up from her computer. "It's against the law to discriminate against students," she said darkly, narrowing her eyes. "That's a bit ironic, don't you think?"

"Don't I know it," Deeks said, slapping one of the case folders closed. "But I'm graduating at the end of the year. It's just for another few months, and then I'll be free of him. I just have to show him that I'm capable."

Kensi glared for another moment and then turned back to her computer, starting to type on her keyboard in loud, punctuated taps.

They worked in silence for a few minutes, Kensi's angry tapping fading back to the normal staccato of typing.

Deeks looked up at her every now and then, catching the look of concentration on her face and smiling to himself. She was cute when she was angry. Of course, when her anger was aimed at him, it was scary, but anyone else, and her furrowed brow and heavy sighs were kind of adorable. Not that he'd ever tell her that to her face.

About a half hour passed and Kensi flipped her notebook closed. She gathered up her data reports and slipped them into a folder. "Done?" Deeks asked, looking up from a particularly gruesome police report on one of Molina's previous murders. He was enjoying her company regardless of the work, and he didn't want her to leave just yet.

"Finally," Kensi said, relief clear in her voice. "Now I don't have to worry about staying up late to finish it."

"Lucky you. I'll probably be up all night going through this stuff." He indicated the case file he was reading.

Hesitantly, Kensi said, "I could help you, if you want. I don't have to be to class for another hour."

Deeks' eyebrows shot up in surprise. She was offering to stick around? "Really?" he asked hopefully. "I mean, it's gruesome stuff."

Kensi crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "You don't think I can handle it?"

Deeks backtracked, "No! I mean, it's not that at all. It's more that I don't want to ruin your day."

Kensi scoffed a little and held up her folder, "I've been looking at pictures of three dead bodies for an hour. I'm pretty sure my day is already kind of ruined."

Deeks nodded in understanding and started to divide up the files. He handed half to Kensi, who pulled them towards her. "What am I looking for?" She asked.

"Anything that could make an argument for Molina's innocence, or at least a lesser sentence."

Kensi's brow furrowed and she looked at the case files. Then she looked up at him, fire in her eyes.

Before she could say anything, Deeks said, "I know it feels wrong to be defending the criminal."

"How can people stand doing it? It's not all about the money. There has to be some humanity," she said with conviction.

Deeks pressed his lips together and released them with a sigh. "Most lawyers do not want to help people," he said bitterly. "They want to help themselves."

"Reason number one why I didn't go into law."

"Oh, right," Deeks said, remembering. "Law enforcement. A cop. Kind of," he said, remembering her words in the quad.

"Kind of," Kensi confirmed, opening up the first case file and starting to read.

"What kind of cop?" Deeks asked. He knew that she had opened up the case file to indicate that she didn't really want to talk about it, but it wasn't Deeks if he wasn't pushing some buttons.

"The kind with a gun," Kensi said flatly.

"Yeah, and?"

Kensi looked up at him, searching his face. He was genuinely interested, even if he was joking a little bit while trying to get her to open up. Her eyes narrowed and she sighed in resignation before putting her hands over the case file. "I want to be a federal agent."

Deeks' eyes widened and he sat back in surprise. "Whoa. That's…wow."

"You can't tell anyone," Kensi said, going back to her file. "Especially not Monica," she muttered.

"Why?"

Still looking down at the file, she said, "Because she'll overreact. She thinks law enforcement is a dangerous career choice."

"Well, it is."

She looked up then and said defiantly, "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do what makes me happy."

"Good point," Deeks said. At first, the news that she wanted to be a cop made her a dozen times hotter, but her ambition and conviction? That sent her off the charts. Deeks could feel himself starting to reach the peak of the crush, the point before falling away into territories unknown. It was a dangerous slope to attempt, especially with a girl like Kensi, but he wanted it just as badly as he was afraid of it. "And helping people, being a badass, and saving the day, that's what makes you happy?"

Kensi looked up at him and smiled a little, "Yeah, the helping people part. Being a badass is just a perk."

Deeks grinned at that. Then, he realized something and his eyes widened. He said, "So does that mean you can shoot a gun?"

Her eyebrow lifted at his excitement. "Yeah," she said slowly. "Why?"

"I've always wanted to learn how to shoot a gun," Deeks said wistfully, choosing not to tell her that he already had, once. But then, he hadn't really learned how to shoot. It wasn't a complete lie. "If you weren't badass before, you definitely are now. Badass Blye." He grinned cheekily at his joke.

Kensi rolled her eyes and said, "Get back to work, Deeks." But he could see the smile she tried to hide, and he liked that he was the one who had caused it.

"So is that why there were Marines at you and Monica's party?"

Kensi sighed in exasperation. "Yes, I train with them. Now, can we get back to work, please?"

"One more question?" Deeks asked. She closed her eyes briefly and nodded, probably willing herself to be patient. It made Deeks want to tease her more, but he held back, not wanting to push too far. "Will you teach me to shoot?"

Her eyes opened and a disbelieving laugh bubbled its way out of her mouth. "Are you serious?"

Deeks nodded, putting on a serious face. She watched him for a moment and said, "We'll see."

He couldn't hide his grin, which caused her to roll her eyes again and fight not to smile back, "Get back to work, Deeks."