Warning: some coarse language.

Deeks and Kensi stood facing each other in the bullpen of the Mission, taking in each other's new appearances. He had refused to cut all of his hair off but agreed to a trim and a lot of bleach to make his normally dark blond hair platinum. She had opted for an auburn red, with green contacts to attempt to cover her birthmark.

"You look hot," Deeks told her.

"You look kind of like a muppet," Kensi responded with an evil grin.

"It hurts, it really hurts."

Sam and Callen watched cautiously as the partners (and lovers) prepared for their new undercover assignment together. They put their lives in harms way every time they came to work, but something about this situation made the elder members of their team more concerned than usual. They both knew how complicated things could be, living lives as other people and having to maintain a cover at all times. Sam, more than anybody, knew how much harder it was to do it with somebody you loved.

Deeks was used to deep undercover; Kensi was not, and had a habit in the past of letting her judgment be clouded by concern over his safety. "You can quit staring at us like two nervous parents about to send their kids off to kindergarten," Deeks called over his shoulder.

"Does that sound accurate to you, Sam?" Callen asked his partner.

"Sounds about right to me," he quipped back. "And since Deeks brought it up, I think it's time for us to have a little talk."

"We already know about the birds and the bees..." Deeks teased.

"Maybe they know something about it we don't yet, I mean, with age comes wisdom, right?" Kensi joined in with a smile.

Sam and Callen crossed their arms in unison and stared at the junior agents on their team. Kensi's pursed her lips and crossed her hands in front of her, and Deeks' face grew more serious. "Okay, get it out."

"Don't lose yourselves in this mission," Callen started.

"Trust your training," Sam added.

"If you don't make a check-in, we will extract your asses faster than Deeks' eyes tear up after a papercut."

Deeks looked at Callen, offended. "Hey!"

"Kensi, watch his back. He's on point, you're the backup. Keep your head on straight."

"We'll be fine, Sam," Kensi said warily.

"And Deeks," Sam continued. "You know how to do this. Keep her at a safe distance. If you do anything stupid to harm her, I'll kill you myself."

"Hey hey hey, now, the only person allowed to hurt my boyfriend is me," Kensi interjected, trying to ease the tense feeling suddenly in the air.

"Sam." Deeks looked at him seriously; eye to eye, man to man. "You have my word. I'd lay down my gun and my life before I let anything happen to her."

The shiny 9mm Taurus pressed against his temple brought Deeks out of his flashback to the last time he saw Sam, Callen, and the inside of the Spanish Mission that provided such a safe shelter to the team's support staff. He and Kensi had missed their scheduled check-in for obvious reasons, one of which being that their covers may have been blown.

"Who is she?" A large dark-haired man that Deeks not so affectionately called Shrek held the gun to his head, but he was just a grunt. The blond man standing in front of him asking the questions was the one in charge; and also the one he'd been trying to impress in order to sneak his way into the smuggling ring they were trying to thwart.

Deeks closed his eyes and shook his head. "Look man, I took her home and fucked her the other night. I don't even know this chick's last name." Opening his eyes again, he looked across the room to where Kensi was being held by a man named Tommy. Deeks had been working Tommy hard, trying to become "friends" with him because he seemed to be the least evil and most gullible of the crew.

Kensi's face showed fear, more fear than he knew she was actually feeling due to her trying to maintain her cover. Her fake green eyes were still strong, and it gave Deeks the strength he needed not to lose his mind over her being manhandled in front of him.

"Okay," Viggo, the bad blond man, said. Deeks usually wanted to laugh at the obviously villainous name; not today though. "Why is she snooping around?"

"It was really good, man. She must be coming back for round two. Or round three actually. Isn't that right, sugar?" Deeks tried to wink at her and made a crude gesture with his hands.

Viggo rolled his eyes. "Get rid of the bitch."

"She won't come back, I swear," Deeks said, relieved.

"Yeah, I know she won't. She was snooping too much." Viggo nodded to Tommy. "Just toss her body with the rest of the ones we have to get rid of."

"No!" Kensi screamed, and Deeks knew that her scream was only partially an act at this point. The rest of them would be a reference to the last batch of women that didn't make it after being smuggled into the country. Their screams were just a little too loud and the crew used a little too much Ether to shut them up. It'd been dumb luck on their part that they didn't blow the whole ship up. Deeks swallowed the bile in his gut back down, remembering the sight that met him on his first job for Viggo.

"No man, she's just a stupjd girl, she doesn't know anything, let her go," he plead with Viggo, glancing back and forth between Kensi and Tommy worriedly.

"This can just be a lesson to you. Keep your cunts under control." Viggo scowled at the large man holding the gun to Deeks' head. "Give him the gun."

Deeks clenched his teeth when Shrek gave him a dirty look and handed him his 9mm. Staring at the gun, Deeks weighed his options. By now their team would be searching for them to do an extract, right? But he had no idea when they would show up. He could only hope it would be soon. The gun in his hands was only a 9mm, not as weak as a .22 in his ankle holster but less powerful than the .40 cal he usually carried. For a brief second, he wondered if he could aim well enough to shoot Kensi without killing her so he could get her out of there and to a hospital by saying he would dispose of the body. The thought made him feel sick, and he knew he was less likely to get a through and through with the 9mm anyway, meaning she would need surgery as soon as possible.

It didn't matter what the situation was, Deeks knew he could never hurt Kensi. Shaking his head violently, he tried to clear that thought from his mind. If he shot Viggo or Shrek or Tommy, then whoever he didn't shoot would just return fire. If Sam and Callen and LAPD didn't bust through the door in the next couple of minutes, they were both as good as dead. Deeks looked up from the gun to see Kensi struggling against Tommy, who was letting his hands become way too familiar with her body. His eyes met hers and he tried to convey the emotions he was feeling to her; I'm scared, I'm sorry, and I love you. Kensi held her head high, not willing to give up on him or her chance of survival.

"Hey!" Viggo shouted, snapping Deeks out of his daze. "What are you waiting on, fucking shoot her."

That wasn't going to happen. Deeks closed his eyes again and said a silent prayer that he was making the right decision, that their backup would show up soon, and that his stupidity wouldn't result in both of them getting killed. The chances were pretty high that it would, but he had to try anything he could to save her. He knelt down slowly and placed the gun on the ground, standing back up with his hands raised. Viggo's face curled up in confusion, then grew even angrier than it had been before.

"What the fuck is this?"

Deeks averted his eyes away from Kensi, but he could still see her shaking her head and he could faintly hear her muttering "no no no" through the sound of his pounding heart in his ears. Staring Viggo in the eyes, he began to speak.

"I don't know who she is, but she doesn't deserve to die. Let her go, and I'll tell you everything you want to know." Deeks paused, exhaling nervously. "My name is Marty Deeks, I'm a special agent with the DEA..."