Chapter 70

Kensi sat at Deeks's side, reading a book that Nell had kindly included with her clothes. Craig had left about an hour ago and Deeks had drifted off to sleep, wiped out by his journey to and from the bathroom, the time spent in the shower, along with the pain medications. She looked up and watched him sleep for a minute, noting that his hair had begun to curl as it dried. She and the guys had always been suspicious of his claim that his hair was styled by pillow but once they'd entered their relationship, she'd discovered he'd been telling nothing but the truth. It was well on its way now. She couldn't resist and reached out to brush some of the silky strands off his forehead. His hand came up and grabbed hers. "Just couldn't resist me, could you Fern?" His eyes opened and met hers. They were full of love.

Instead of pulling her hand away and making a joke like she would have several months ago, she turned her hand over in his and intertwined their fingers. "Nope! I just can't resist you when you're sleeping." Unable to help herself she continued "You're so much easier to resist when you're awake and your mouth is moving." She laughed her scary snort laugh at her own humor.

"You wound me, Fern, you wound me!" He said as he put his free hand up to his chest in high dramatic fashion, the smile on his face giving away the lie.

Kensi looked at her watch and realized that the surprise for Deeks she'd been texted about last night, just before she'd fallen into the bed in the other room, was on its way. She tried to pull her hand away so she could go get freshened up but he wouldn't let go. They ended up in a playful tug of war.

"Hey now, what's going on here?" asked Nell from the doorway, Eric right behind her.

Deeks looked over and saw his two friends and coworkers coming in together and formulated a plan. One that would require getting Nell alone. He smiled at both of them. "Hey you guys! Good to see you."

The two techies came into the room, Eric carrying his ever present tablet. He put it down on the hospital bed table and started to fidget with it. Deeks's attention was pulled away from what he was doing by Nell reaching down and kissing him on the forehead. She whispered to him "You really scared us this time Shaggy! Mystery Incorporated can't function without you; you know that, don't you? Who else could play the part of Shaggy so well?"

He looked up at make a smart remark but was stopped by the very real tears in her eyes. "Hey Velma! Don't worry; I have no intention of letting the Scoobies go on without me!" He reached up and gently ran a thumb over her check, wiping away a tear that had escaped.

She blinked her eyes several times, forcing them back and then smiled at him before turning to Eric, who nodded. He maneuvered the hospital table over the bed and pushed a button while Deeks looked on with interest. A video of an empty room appeared and he frowned, wondering what the heck was going on. When a familiar face sat down in front of the screen, he lost his breath. "Ray?" he whispered.

"Hey brother! Kensi called to let me know you were hurt. I had to see you for myself. How you doing? You look like shit man!"

"I'm…I'm doing good! How are you? How are Jenna and the baby?" He had so many questions that he couldn't think straight. A sudden thought crossed his mind and he sat up a little straighter. "Ray, this isn't safe for you! You can't be doing this!"

"Chill out! Your techies took care of it."

Deeks looked at Eric and Nell who both looked very proud of themselves. "What did you two do?"

"This is an encrypted tablet, as is the one Ray is using. We overnighted it to him yesterday. We have a secure link to him through NCIS. No one will be able to hack in and no one will ever know that you two were in contact. Ray's safe." Eric replied, proud of himself.

"Eric, are you going to get in trouble for this? You know how Hetty feels about using NCIS resources for personal business!"

"We have Hetty and Granger's full approval and permission, along with Director Vance's. When Kensi brought it up, everyone was on board immediately."

Deeks turned and looked at Kensi. "You did this for me?" he asked softly. She nodded and smiled at him. He hadn't thought he could love her any more than he already did, but he'd just discovered how wrong he was. He reached out a hand and took hers. "Thank you Wikipedia!" using the nickname Ray had given her so long ago. She squeezed it hard and turned to Ray.

"You keeping out of trouble Ray?"

"You bet I am Wikipedia. I have a lot more to keep safe now than I ever did." Suddenly another face appeared in the picture, a miniature version of Ray.

"Daddy? Who you talkin' to?"

Deeks jaw dropped open as he drank in the sight of Ray's young son. He cleared his throat and said hoarsely "And who's this young man?"

Ray grinned at him. "This is my son, Andrew Martin Mitchell, although we call him Andy." Ray picked his son up and sat him on his lap in front of the screen with him.

"Andrew Martin?" asked Deeks softly. He waved at the little boy who waved back.

"Yup, he was named after the most important man in my life. My brother and best friend, the one who helped put me back on the straight and narrow, helped save my life."

"Ray…"

Ray interrupted him. "You know, I have a bone to pick with you! You promised me a call when you and Wikipedia's 'thing' worked out! I don't remember getting a call and now I hear you two have been together since last Christmas?"

"If I remember correctly, I never promised you any such thing!"

"Yeah, well, what I remember is that you denied there even being a 'thing'! I knew you were lying! I can always tell, Marty. You could never hide anything from me from the first moment we met."

Deeks opened his mouth but didn't have a response to that. The two men continued to catch up, Ray's son, Kensi, Eric and Nell joining in where they could, everyone laughing and talking over each other. After another half hour, they heard a door open and a woman's voice calling for 'Charlie'. Ray put his finger up to his lips and called out "I'm in the den babe!"

Footsteps approached and the woman said "What are you two doing in here?"

"Talking to an old friend." Ray gestured to the screen and Jenna leaned down. She had originally known Deeks as Max Gentry and hadn't liked him in the least, thinking that it was Max who kept Ray in trouble. She had been stunned when she found out he was a cop who had actually been trying to keep Ray out of jail and then grateful to him when he'd helped save both of them from Nelson Sanders after he testified against him. They had a good life now and it was all because of the man on the screen.

She frowned when she looked at him "My God, Marty! What happened to you?"

"Just a little accident, Jenna, nothing to worry about. Has 'Charlie' been behaving himself?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded. "He sure has!" She paused and put a hand on her stomach. "As long as you're present, I want to tell 'Charlie' something that I just found out for myself." She turned to Ray and put one hand on his face, the other she put on her stomach. "I went to the doctor's this morning. He's going to be a father again!"

Ray put Andy down, erupted off his chair and swung Jenna around; their son jumping up and down in excitement while not really understanding what was going on. Back In L.A., congratulations were said by all and eventually they signed off, promising not to let so much time go by before the next time they spoke. Ray would have the encrypted tablet now and it would be safe to talk whenever Deeks could use the one on the L.A. side of things.

Eric shut down the tablet and Deeks sighed, missing Ray already. He shook himself out of it and looked at Eric, wondering how to get him out of the room. He grabbed Kensi's hand and pulled her down so that he could whisper in her ear. "Can you think of any way to get Eric out of here so I can tackle Nell about their relationship?" Kensi grinned at him and sat back, thinking hard and then brightened.

"Eric?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't happen to have an extra tablet that we could use for Deeks, do you? He's been a little bored and the T.V. has absolutely nothing on but soaps and talk shows during the day." She knew that Eric always had a couple tablets in the car for emergencies. Exactly what those emergencies might be, she had yet to find out.

"Sure! I got an extra one in the car right now. I'll go get it." He stood up and Kensi did too.

"I'll come with you, Eric, I desperately need a coffee. Nell, do you want one?" Kensi turned to her friend, effectively forcing her to stay behind and keep Deeks company.

"Sure." She frowned at Kensi, feeling like something was off. Eric and Kensi left the room and Nell turned back to Deeks, finding him looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"What?"

"It didn't escape my notice that the two of you came in together."

"So what? We carpool. Just like Sam and Callen, just like you and Kensi." This only earned her the sight of Deeks's eyebrows rising further. 'Okay, not like you and Kensi now, but like you and Kensi before!"

"Come on Nell, you know, that I know, that that's not all it is. You two have been throwing off vibes for months now. You can tell me, I won't tell anyone else, I promise."

"Yeah, like I believe you wouldn't tell Kensi…and Sam…and Callen…"

"So there is something to tell?"

"No! That's not what I meant! I meant that, if there was something, I don't believe that you would be able to keep it to yourself!"

He blinked sadly at her a couple times and widened his eyes, looking soulful once again. Maybe third time would be the charm? It hadn't worked on Moira or Kensi. "I'm hurt Velma, I can't believe you don't trust me."

"I do trust you! It's not that!"

"Then what is it?"

"Your inner lawyer is coming out. You're trying to trap me into a corner." She crossed her arms across her stomach and channeled her inner Hetty, giving him her best gorgon stare.

"Who? Me? I wouldn't do that to you. I'm surprised that you would think that of me." He looked down at the bed and plucked at the bedspread beside his leg, pulling his shoulders down in a slump.

Nell frowned, still not sure if she was being played but wondering if it would be such a bad thing to confide in him and Kensi. She hated keeping secrets from her friends and she counted the two of them as some of her best. She sighed and said "Okay, you win! Yes, Eric and I are in a relationship and have been for a couple months. We haven't said anything because we wanted to see how things worked out for you two. If you guys ended up being split up, we were never going to tell anyone." She paused and tilted her head at him, a smile playing around her lips. "Plus, it's kind of fun keeping it under wraps, playing games with everyone. Watching them scramble. Don't think I didn't know about the bets being placed around whether Eric and I would get one room or two for Cassie and Paula's wedding!"

Deeks grinned at her, remembering when he and Kensi had kept their new relationship a secret. He totally understood and now kind of wished he hadn't pushed her. "I promise not to tell anyone. Not even Kensi, unless you say it's okay to do so."

"Really? You'd keep this from Kensi?"

"If you asked me to? Yes, I would. It would be tough because you know how much Kensi loves you and Eric. You two belong together and everyone has been pulling for you for ages!"

"You have?"

"Of course! You guys complete each other. I've never seen two people more right for each other."

"Except you and Kensi, right?"

"You think of us that way too?" He sounded surprised.

She frowned. "Of course, don't you?"

"I don't know. I guess in my weaker moments, I've always kind of thought she was a little out of my league. I still wake up every day amazed to find her by my side."

"Deeks! She is so not out of your league! You two are perfect together."

Deeks shrugged and swallowed hard. He hadn't really meant to tell her that. "Okay, now you and I both have something we know about the other that we would prefer no one else finds out. I'm willing to take your secret to the grave if you will mine!" He crossed his hand over his heart and looked at her, his eyes telling her he meant it.

"Okay, I believe you. And you can tell Kensi. It might be fun to double date now and then!"

"Awesome! I hear her coming, can we tell her now?"

"Let's wait until Eric gets back and we can do it together?"

"Do we have too?" he whined.

"Shaggy you are such a child!"

"You just figuring that out, Nell?" Kensi said as she entered the room with two cups of hot coffee grasped in her hands. Deeks immediately zeroed in on them, wondering how he could at least get a sip. "What is he being a child about this time?"

Nell looked at Deeks for help. "I wanted to get up and she wouldn't let me." He quickly said.

"Deeks! You promised to not overdo it! You gave Moira the Scout's Honor pledge!"

"You were a Boy Scout?" Nell asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?"

Both women snorted as Eric walked through the door with the tablet for Deeks and asked "What does everyone find so hard to believe?"

"That I was in the Boy Scouts!"

"You were?"

Deeks crossed his arms over his chest and made a humph noise. He'd almost forgotten about what Nell had told him. She grinned and nudged him. He smiled and lowered his arms, grabbing her hand in his. "Kensi, Nell and I have something to tell you."

"Shaggy!" Nell yelled at him but she was laughing as she pulled her hand out of his, punching him softly in the shoulder.

Eric and Kensi looked back and forth between the two of them and then at each other. Both shrugged, knowing their partners would tell them when they were ready. Nell smiled at Kensi and walked over to Eric, holding out her hand to him. He looked at her and she nodded. He smiled in relief and took it. Together they turned to the other two who both wore identical ear to ear smiles. "Kensi, I'm sorry we kept this from you but…Eric and I have been a couple for a while now."

"I knew it! I knew it! I am so happy for you guys! You two are great together! I can't wait until Deeks can get out of here. We can go out and double some night."

Kensi pulled Nell into a hug and then Eric. The two couples started sharing stories about almost getting caught out and how often people had questioned them. They laughed over some of the more risqué stories, Eric and Nell almost getting caught in the burn room and up in ops late one night when they thought everyone had gone home, Kensi and Deeks at the firing range, in the gym and, most recently, at the boat shed. Eric happened to look at Deeks after the last story and noticed the lines that were deepening around his mouth and eyes. It was time for them to leave. He made a show of looking at his watch and then he jumped up. "Nell, we need to go! We're much later than we told Hetty we'd be!"

"Chill Beale, she'll understand." Nell looked at him in confusion and met his eyes. He flicked them to Deeks and back to her. She looked at Deeks and saw the same pain lines starting to appear that Eric had. She stood up and stretched a little. "You know, you're right, we don't want to abuse her good will. We'll see you guys later? Deeks, you take care of yourself and come back to us soon, you hear?"

"You know I will, Nellasauros! And I just want to say it again you two, we're so happy for you!" Said Deeks, his hand in Kensi's. She added her agreement as the two packed up and left, waving as they walked out the door. Alone once more, he admitted to being in pain and pushed the call button. Caro bustled in, already carrying the little paper cup with his pain medication. She handed him the cup while Kensi poured his some water. He thanked both women and downed the pills in one gulp, lying back to wait for them to kick in. Caro smiled and left. While they waited, the two compared notes, giving examples of times when they had been so sure something was up between the two of them.

They were busy planning on where they would go as a foursome, both throwing out some of their favorite places, when Deeks gave a huge yawn and Kensi realized he was fighting to keep his eyes open. He was getting better but he still tired so easily, especially after taking the pills. She started to stroke the back of his hand and began to talk softer and softer, watching as his eyes would close and then he would force them open. He really did look like a small child, or maybe a shaggy puppy, fighting off bedtime, she thought. She waited until the last time he closed them when they didn't open again. She kissed him on the forehead and said "Sleep well, my love."

~,~,~,~

A/N – thanks to Hoosier65 for the idea of them calling Ray. I wasn't sure how to work it in but I hope it was okay. Raderle asked for some Eric and Nell ages ago, this is, hopefully, just the beginning. I'm getting ready for him to leave the hospital but I have a couple more prompts from people on who might visit him and one of my own that I've been dying to use.

Leave a review, leave a prompt, leave a suggestion, just don't leave the story. Wink, wink!