Anonymous: A drabble from the morning before the 5x20 sneak peek, where Kensi is back to work?
She's smiling again.
That's the very first thing he notices when she rolls over in bed that morning. The second thing he picks up on is how nicely her bruises are healing. In the weeks she's had off since their return from Afghanistan, Kensi's almost returned to her normal self.
Almost.
There are still nightmares, ones where she wakes up around three am— crying, shaking, heaving, before falling into his arms and staying there the remainder of the night. Deeks doesn't sleep a wink during those hours while Kensi fades in and out of consciousness. He keeps watch over her, like always, and wakes her up when she begins to toss and turn.
But for the first time since her return, last night wasn't one of those nights.
"Hey," she says, the light dancing across Kensi's face as she scoots closer to her partner.
He smiles. "Morning sunshine."
Kensi almost rolls her eyes but stops herself and decides to grin instead. She's getting used to the vast array of nicknames he has for her, and 'sunshine' is just one of them.
"How'd you sleep?" she asks, a hint of guilt in her tone. He's been like a walking zombie for the past couple of weeks, and Kensi knows it's all her fault.
"Like a baby," he answers with a yawn. "And you?"
"Like a baby."
"Good." His grin widens and he traces one finger over her jawline, where just a hint of a bruise remains. "I've been worried about you, Fern."
"I know you have. But I'm good."
"You look good."
She lifts an eyebrow. "I wouldn't say that to me in front of the guys, if I were you."
He sits up slightly and looks around. "Are the guys here? I didn't even invite them." He shakes his head, lips pursed. "There are no boundries with those two."
"Ha-ha. Very funny." Deeks smirks and plops back down against his pillow. "But I'm not talking about now, I'm talking about later. When we get to work."
"You wanna devise a plan?"
"More or less."
He scoots closer to her so that their noses are almost touching. "Kay. So… should we drive separately?"
"Of course."
"And should I pretend to bring you a cup of coffee?"
"Definitely."
"And should you pretend to be annoyed at me?"
Kensi leans away slightly and furrows her eyebrows. "Why would I do that?"
"Because it means things are back to the way they used to be."
"But they aren't."
"That's the whole point." Deeks lazily tugs at the hem of her tee shirt (or actually his tee shirt) and Kensi falls back down onto the bed. "We don't want them to know that everything has changed."
"And why is that, exactly?"
"Because of the never-ending amounts of shit we'd receive from Sam and Callen, as well as the possibility that one of us would be sent to a foreign country-"
"Enough said."
Deeks watches as she climbs out of bed, her hair falling over her shoulders in pools of soft waves. "Where are you goinggggg?" he whines, outstretching his arms.
She smiles. "To get ready, so I have time to make myself late for work today."
He wrinkles his eyebrows. "Either I'm still sleepy or that doesn't make any sense."
"Both," she says. Kensi leans forward and pecks him on the lips. "Deception can be exhausting."