A/N: For "A Fait Accompli", because I will never be over it. Countdown day 2.

"Deeks, seriously though, are you ok?" Kensi checked as they wandered out of the mission, Hetty's terse instructions to celebrate on Saturday ringing in their ears.

"Well, I started out today, thinking I was excelling but trying to hide an injury so I didn't get kicked out, then very shortly thereafter was summarily dismissed from FLETC, and now had our AWOL boss scare the crap out of me while virtually presenting my badge," Deeks paused, pursing his lips. "It's been a day."

"I'm sorry, baby," Kensi apologized. "I swear I didn't know what Hetty had planned until I went to pick you up."

Deeks chuckled, the sound humorless. It was such a Hetty thing to do, and he honestly didn't know how to feel about it. Though he did mean what he said about her being savage.

"You know, the whole time I was packing, on the plane, I kept trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. Did somebody figure out I was hurt? Did I fail that last exam I thought I aced?" He scrubbed his hands through his hair, looking beyond Kensi as he tried to process it all. "Then I just couldn't stop thinking about how I screwed up again. So many people pulled in favors to get me into FLETC, bypass the age requirements, and I blew it."

Kensi put her hand on his arm, drawing him to a stop, and she turned to face him with a horrified expression.

"Oh my god, Deeks. Why didn't you tell me? You could have called or texted."

"For one, I was busy clearing out my room as fast as possible. For another, I knew you were busy and didn't need my whining while you tried to focus," Deeks explained with a shrug. He couldn't quite look at her fully, still a little embarrassed and ashamed.

"Baby, that is not whining," Kens told him firmly. When he didn't respond, she grasped his cheeks between her palms, not as gently as he expected so he was forced to meet her gaze. "You need to tell me when you're feeling like that."

"I didn't really feeling like talking about it anyway," he admitted. As much as Kensi was the person he trusted most, he'd been too consumed with his self-loathing thoughts. And, the certainty that she would be disappointed. "It seemed like I was just fulfilling what everyone already knew."

Kensi gave his head a firm shake, smoothing her thumb across his cheek a few times to take the sting out of the gesture.

"Hey, do not talk like that. You are not a screwup." He started to object and she pressed her index finger to his lips. "Yes, you faltered a little bit in the beginning, but that's just because you were nervous from all the pressure. You figured it out in the end though, and proved what I already knew about you." She paused a beat. "That you are a strong, intelligent, courageous man who can overcome anything the world throws at him."

Smiling finally as she said the last part, she slid her up the sides of his face to loop around his neck. Deeks blinked a couple times, almost in tears for the second time in about minutes. It felt like emotional whiplash.

"Wow, Kensi…" he looked up for a second to stave off tears, but they escaped anyway. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"It's the truth," Kensi insisted, running her fingers through his hair. It was perfectly soothing after everything that happened today. "You are so, so strong. And I love you."

"I love you, too," he murmured. He kissed her, only holding back because they were in the middle of the parking lot. "I guess we better go home."

"We don't have to."

"Well, you heard what Hetty said."

Kensi shrugged her shoulders, a mischievous smile crossing her lips.

"Since when have we ever followed directions? And who cares what Hetty says? Let's celebrate tonight," she suggested. "I think we both earned it."