A/N: No long speech this time :) Thnaks as always, disclaimer as always, enjoy as always!
Callen sat at his desk and rubbed his palms over his tired face. He and Sam had arrived several hours ago at OSP and had gone through the protocols of Julio Lopez' interrogation. It seemed like it was actually possible to crack the cartel but to achieve that, they had to set Julio free. At least more or less. He needed to be informed about the next deal to be able to prevent it, and he only got that information from the boss himself. Maybe they were able to infiltrate the cartel with a little help of Julio? Callen went through endless scenarios in his head, trying to sort the most logical ones out to come up with a plan. Sam had gone home over an hour ago to spend at least some time with his wife when he wasn't already able to see his children awake. Callen was sure that Sam was talking about the case with Michelle right now, about his worry for Deeks – he would never admit openly to his colleagues – and then he would be hugged. Callen was happy for him. When he had been told that Sam was going to be a dad, he had been so euphoric that it had seemed more than untypical for him. Callen took a deep breath and tried to focus on the papers in front of him. Think, Callen, think.
"Mr Callen, shouldn't you have headed home by now?"
Hetty's voice made him jump. She was like a ninja that could sneak up to anyone, no matter how well trained the agent might be. Now she was standing in front of him, her perfect fitting pantsuit completed with a small scarf pin, the eyes behind the glasses studying him with an x-ray-glance.
"Shouldn't you have, too?" Callen asked back and looked at his boss.
Boss. The word didn't do justice to her, not even slightly. She was more of a mother figure for all of the agents, and at the same time the most intelligent and well-read person Callen had ever met, fashion adviser for agents during undercover operations, terrifying and commanding if necessary and so much more. He didn't want to know how many identities she had lived and how many stories she had to tell.
"True, Mr Callen, true. And still, we are both here. May I take it that it is because of Mr Deeks?" Hetty asked, although it was more of a statement than a question. She knew what was going on inside Callen's head, of course she knew.
"Why do you ask a question you already know the answer to, Hetty? Of course it's because of Deeks. It's like he's a magnet for any kind of trouble," Callen sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Reminds me of another agent I know," Hetty said and looked at him knowingly, Callen laughing in return.
"Yeah, I'm not much better, I guess…"
"No, Mr Callen, you're not. You and Mr Deeks indeed show some parallels I'm not sure you know of. I don't know how much he shares about his past, but you are quite alike."
Hetty paused portentously, before she started again, "I suggest that Miss Blye comes to Ops tomorrow, she has to write the report. She will surely not be happy about that but I think it will be best if Mr Deeks gets some company that could help him with… different matters than his partner can."
Callen frowned and looked at Hetty with a question mark clearly written all over face. The woman was speaking in riddles as always. Where could he help Deeks that Kensi couldn't? Showering, okay, but it wasn't something he'd do for granted. After all, there were boundaries even in a tight knit team.
"And Sam will...?" Callen let the sentence ending hang the in air and trusted Hetty to have arranged everything – which was indeed the case.
"Mr Hanna will accompany Miss Blye to Ops and then continue to work with Julio Lopez."
"Of course, what else would he do…?"
It was a long time to wait from midnight to the next morning. Especially, when you weren't allowed to leave the apartment you were in. Not that Deeks hadn't thought about going outside a bit but on one hand he didn't want his body to collapse, and on the other hand, he didn't want to know what was going to happen to him if Kensi ever were to find out. Never incur Kensi Marie Blye's wrath. That was one of the rules Deeks had learnt in a very short amount of time. So he had only one option left: staying in the apartment and doing anything that was silent enough to not wake Kensi.
Trying to shower was a no-go, the boiler was way too loud. What else could he do in the small house? In the end, Deeks sat the whole night in front of the television, watching ancient reruns or infomercials, next to him a Thermos bottle with coffee. After the guy from the infomercial wanted to sell the tenth vacuum cleaner, it finally started to dawn. If Kensi found him now sitting on the couch, he could say that he was used to getting up early to catch a few waves before work. Not that he thought for one second that Kensi would believe him. She knew him far too well by now and he could only hope that she would drop the topic. On the other hand, it was Kensi who he was thinking about. Kensi wouldn't just drop something, at least not if it was something she could embarrass him with later. He had been in that situation too often to hope for something different to happen, she still teased him about his job as a stripper – and his job as a lifesaver.
Deeks, however, also knew that Kensi had noticed that is was a really sensitive issue that easily threw him off the tracks and he could imagine that she gave him time until he was ready to share more. Or that she would accept that he wouldn't say another word about it.
Sighing, he drank the last bit of coffee and changed position on the couch. Deeks had been sitting on that couch for eight solid hours and had only gotten up to make more coffee, or go to the bathroom so that his butt was starting to hurt. And his knee. The painkillers he had gotten prescribed were heavy-duty so they made him very drowsy. Conclusion: he didn't take them anymore. Deeks was absolutely sure that Kensi would make him pay for it, but this way he killed two birds with one stone; one, the pills didn't make him even more sleepy than he was anyway and two, the throbbing pain itself kept him awake. Deeks' hand absently touched his stitched cut at his temple. When he had looked in the mirror, he had been startled how the wound with a nice blue bruise around it caught one's eye. Not to mention the headache coming along with it, more specifically with the concussion.
A completely normal day in the life of Martin A. Deeks. Was it so difficult to stay out of the danger-zone for once? Yes, for him it somehow was. Not that he wanted to get in it, it just happened. Deeks looked at his Thermos bottle that was in front of him on the small table in the living room. It was the only proof that he had been up all night; the coffee machine was clean, the used filters in the trash and the bottle itself would soon be vanished as clean as ever in the cupboard were it belonged.
That was the one advantage of him being fussy – Kensi would never find out about his stunt, at least Deeks hoped so. He could remember very clearly that she had accused him of being OCD as they had lived together as a married couple. Well, yes, Deeks liked to clean, what was wrong with that? His place was always clean and tidy, in contrast to Kensi's apartment. There hadn't been a time when he didn't need to walk around dirty clothes on the ground or found wrappers of sweets just everywhere. Remembering her apartment, Deeks had to smile and asked himself how long this one would stay clean, with Kensi working against him and his knee in a brace. One thing he knew for sure, he would not pass the ball in her field by not cleaning the Thermos bottle.
Deeks took his crutches that were lying in front of him on the ground and got himself on his feet. Pain coursed through his body as he tried to keep standing. The sudden movement showed him quite painfully that even the last trace of the painkillers had left his blood stream by now. His knee was throbbing like he had just ran a marathon and his head wasn't too fond of standing up as well. Deeks suppressed a groan with clenched teeth and started to hobble, Thermos bottle in one hand, to the kitchen, where he washed it and put it back in its place. His glance wandered across the food on the breakfast bar and he thought for a moment about making toast, but his stomach kept him from doing so. He had eaten something yesterday, something he had managed to keep down, but the queasy feeling was still there. The good thing was that Deeks knew why it was still there. As far back as he could remember his headaches always came with nausea. A simple headache was enough for him to keep his hands off of food until the pain was gone. So Deeks just took a bottle of water and settled down on the couch again.
When Sam walked into the Spanish Mission the next day, his partner was already sitting at his desk, fingers playing with a pen while he was reading something on his laptop. Sam chuckled and shook his head, wondering if Callen even had been home. He was wearing other clothes than the day before, but that didn't say too much as all agents had some spare clothing in the gym.
"Morning, G," Sam greeted and just wanted to sit down, as an indefinable noise from Callen kept him from it.
"What was that?"
"We're going to go the safe house, Hetty's orders. I stay with Deeks and you drive back with Kensi and then go on with interrogating Julio, well, making a plan with him how we can infiltrate the cartel," Callen said without looking up and typed something else before he closed the laptop and put it in his bag.
"Okay…" frowned Sam. It was just half past eight – how much could he have possibly missed? Callen looked at him and his eyes read 'you know Hetty', making Sam grin.
Hetty had always planned everything three days beforehand and was able to predict the future, at least it seemed so.
"Well then, let's go."
Deeks had gotten comfortable on the couch again, as the doorbell rang. His hand was in a millisecond at his weapon that was lying on the table as the waistband of his sweatpants were too loose to tuck it in there. Only when Deeks heard Callen's voice, his muscles relaxed slightly and he got up to walk over to the door.
"We need some secret knock or something," he mumbled to himself while opening the door.
"Morning, Deeks," the two agents greeted him, their hands as promised full with breakfast.
"Morning guys. Our little princess is still asleep, I didn't dare to wake her up without something to eat," Deeks grinned, and a moment later his shoulder was punched. "Oww!"
He turned around and saw Kensi standing next to him, sleepy, hair a mess, but still somehow totally sexy, her face grim. With all his best will, he wasn't able to tell if it was real or just played.
"I'm not that bad!" she hissed, pushed around Deeks and glanced at the breakfast in Sam and Callen's arms. "Oh, that looks great. Come on in, come."
The three men exchanged an amused look before following Kensi to the kitchen and started to lay the table. When Callen put the plates on the bar he took a moment to take in the appearance of their LAPD liaison. Deeks had shadows under his eyes and the rest of his body practically screamed for sleep. He seemed to have a hard time keeping his eyes open and Callen inevitably had to ask himself how much coffee he had already drunk. He knew that Deeks always got up early to go surfing, but after having surgery he had thought that he would sleep longer. Was that the issue that Hetty had talked about? The thing he could help with?
Callen had insomnia for what seemed forever, four hours of sleep were a real blessing for him. Wasn't he like a negative example, then? Callen thought that only the day would show him what all this was about.
Why he knew it? Hetty.
A/N: Yeah, I know, not much happening here... but the bad guys need some time to plan their master-plan and I need to give our guys some time for team-bonding :) Still liked it a bit? Review? :)
