A/N – If you read the original chapter 29, it's changed. The reviews I got said that Deeks let Kensi off too easy…less than 24 hours! I totally agreed with them so, here I go trying to make it better. I still don't own anything NCIS:LA related except my OC's!

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Chapter 29

Deeks blindly drove away from Kensi's apartment. He kept thinking about what she had said. Did she really have so little faith in him? Had he just been imagining what they meant to each other? He pulled into a parking space and realized he was at a favorite haunt of his, Steve's Place. He put the car in park and thought about what he needed to do to get his head on straight. Pulling out his phone, he called Monty's sitter, Mrs. Hudson. He needed to ask her to hold onto him for just a while longer. The phone rang and she picked up. "Marty? Are you home? Do you want me to bring Monty over?"

"No, Mrs. Hudson. Things didn't go quite as we expected and I'm going to be away for a few more days. Would it be okay for him to stay with you for a while longer? It shouldn't be much longer."

"Of course, dear. Monty is always welcome here. Is everything okay? You sound strange."

"What? No, no, everything is fine! It shouldn't be later than Monday." he forced cheerfulness into his voice. The woman knew him too well. She was a neighbor who had been looking after Monty pretty much since he had adopted him. "I'll pay you extra, of course."

"That's fine Marty. You're taking good care of yourself, right?"

"Yes, Mrs. Hudson. I always do." He hung up and wondered what he was going to do. He didn't want to go home. At this point, it was too full of Kensi. In his head, he went through the people he could call to try to talk this out with, but all of them had also become Kensi's friends. He looked at his watch. It was a little after 9:00 PM on Thursday night. There was no way he wanted to go into work tomorrow. He needed to call Hetty and ask for some time off but he didn't want to talk to her in person, she was too damn perceptive. She would instantly know that something was wrong and would probably deduce that the something was Kensi. He called her work line and got her voicemail as expected. He left a message that he was taking some personal time and would let her know if he would be in on Monday. He headed into the bar.

"Hey Marty! Long time no see! You want your usual beer?" asked Steve, who was the owner as well as bartender.

"No, Steve, feeling like something a little stronger tonight. How about scotch rocks?"

"Sure thing, coming right up!" Deeks headed to an empty table at the back of the little bar. He wanted to be sure that he didn't end up with any unwelcome company tonight. Steve brought the drink to the table and Marty thanked him and told him to keep them coming. Steve frowned, this was not like Marty but he wasn't his keeper. He just nodded and went back to the bar.

After a few rounds, Marty was staring into his most recent, and not last, drink if he had anything to say about it when he realized he would have to let Laura Shelton know that the self defense class for the girls on Saturday would need to be cancelled, unless Kensi decided to hold it on her own. He had no desire to contact Kensi to find out. He pulled out his cell and found Laura's contact information. He hit dial while he took another sip of his scotch.

"Marty! What's up? Why are you calling so late? Everything okay?"

"Hey, Laura. I'm just calling to let you know I can't make it Saturday. I'm not sure about Kensi. You'll have to find out from her if she's willing to do it on her own." He knew he was slurring his words but didn't really care at this point.

Laura was instantly alert. This was not the Marty she knew. Something was wrong. "Why wouldn't you ask Kensi if she was okay with doing it on her own?" He didn't say anything in response. "Where are you Marty? What's going on?"

Not thinking straight he gave her an honest answer. "I'm at Steve's Place on Culver Boulevard and I have no intention of asking Kensi anything."

Laura frowned at her phone. "I'll be right there. Can you promise me that you'll wait for me Marty? Promise me that you won't go anywhere else?" He nodded at the phone, too far gone to realize she couldn't see him. He hung up the phone and gestured to Steve for another.

Laura hung up the phone and rang for the butler. When he appeared she asked "Neal, could you ask Ken to bring the car around? I need to go out."

Neal frowned, it was not like Mrs. Shelton to head out this late in the evening. "Is everything okay Mrs. Shelton?"

"No, it's not. I think a friend is in trouble and I need to see if I can help him. Could you tell Ken that I need him to look up directions to a bar called Steve's Place on Culver? Also, call the house in Santa Barbara and ask them to prepare it for a possible guest."

Neal instantly recognized the name of the bar. Marty had taken him there a couple times after surfing lessons. Forgetting that the Sheltons didn't know that he and the detective had become friends, he asked "Marty? Is something wrong with Marty?"

Laura looked at her butler and saw the concern on his face. "You too?" she asked. He nodded. Laura smiled, thinking that the LAPD detective had woven himself into the fabric of her family's life in more ways than one. She sincerely felt that said fabric was stronger for his presence. "Would you like to come with me?" Neal said yes without hesitation. "Okay, let's take my car. I'm assuming you know where this place is and can get us there?" Neal nodded once again and reached for the phone to call the housekeeper for the Santa Barbara property. Once they had their instructions, the two headed out to Laura's car. When they reached Steve's Place, Neal pulled over and let Laura out. He would need to circle the block to find a parking space as none were available and neither wanted to wait any longer to find out what was up with their friend.

Laura walked into the seedy little bar and scanned the room. She located him at the farthest table from the door. Determinedly heading his way, she was surprised when the bartender came out from behind the bar and stopped her. "I don't think the gentleman is looking for company tonight lady!"

Laura looked at the man in front of her and smiled. "I'm assuming you're yet another friend of Marty's? He's expecting me."

The man looked relieved and reached out his hand. "Steve. I own this place. This is so totally out of character for Marty. I'm glad a friend has shown up to find out what the hell is going on. It's not like him to have more than one or two beers. He used to come here all the time but that stopped a couple years ago. I heard he got shot in a convenience store robbery. After that we only see him every few weeks. Last couple times he's come in with a hot brunette. He really seemed happy. I don't know what happened to change that tonight, but I'm guessing it's the brunette."

Laura smiled at him and took his hand. Since meeting the NCIS team her world had opened up and she had met some wonderful people she would have previously looked down her nose at. This man was obviously concerned about her friend. "I'm Laura. I'll do whatever I can to make sure he's okay." He smiled at her and moved out of her way. She headed over to his table and sat down. "Hi Marty. What's up?"

He looked up bleary eyed and tried to focus on the woman's face. "Laura? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" he asked, completely forgetting the phone conversation where he had given her his location. She looked at him. Again she thought, this was not a Marty Deeks she knew. She had seen him embarrassed, happy, angry after Meaghan's attack, but never this look of defeat. She knew it had something to do with Kensi and she was not happy with the female agent. She opened her mouth but was interrupted when Neal sat down at the table with them. Obviously, he had found a parking spot.

"Hey dude, what's up" Neal asked. Laura looked at him, stunned that her oh so formal butler was talking to the detective like some surfer. Neal looked at her with a slightly guilty look on his face. She smiled at him, letting him know that she didn't care. That all she cared about was finding out what was wrong with the man sitting at the table with them.