"Hey Deeks, where you going so early?" Forester shouted, popping his head out of the kitchen as Deeks walked past. So much for making a clean getaway.

"Last-Man-Standing Deeks is leaving?" Jerry Caplin asked, joining them in the hallway. "I don't think I've seen that since you had to rush Monty to the vet."

"Yeah, it must be something important for Deeks to take off."

"You know The Captain is always bugging me about having too many days. I finally listened and took a few hours," Deeks told them, turning just long enough to give a shrug.

Jerry scoffed at that. "Yeah right, like you ever do what people want." He hurried to catch up to Deeks, cutting in front of him, and walking backwards. "Let's see, the only explanations I see are either your mother is in town, or, you're going on a date."

"Fine, you figured it out," Deeks admitted reluctantly. "Do you think you could maybe keep it quiet?"

"Oh sure." Jerry patted his chest, then promptly leaned into the common room and called out, "Lieutenant's got a date!"

Shaking his head, Deeks walked out to a roar of cheers and affectionate taunts.

Kensi pulled into the parking lot of the upscale Mexican restaurant Deeks had given her directions for. They'd agreed to meet at the restaurant rather than him driving, which had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now though, she was having seconds thoughts and felt unusually nervous.

She pulled in between a white SUV and a red convertible, glancing through either window as she put her car in park. God help her, if Marty Deeks had stood her up," she thought.

Carefully sliding out of her seat so she didn't flash any patrons, Kensi started across the parking lot.

"You're late!" An amused voice called out. Kensi spun around on the toes of her spiked heels.

A few vehicles down, Deeks leaned against the trunk of his car, one ankle casually crossed over the other, a teasing grin in place.

"By one minute," Kensi retorted, striding towards him. "Which I think is impressive for LA on a Saturday." She didn't mention that she'd left ten minutes early just in case.

"That's true." Deeks pushed off the car. "You look amazing," he said more softly.

Kensi let her eyes rove over him, not being even a little bit discreet. He wore a dark blue dress shirt which somehow perfectly brought out his eyes and highlighted his tan and sun-bronzed hair. He'd finished off the simple look with dark slacks and shoes.

"So do you," Kensi returned. Which was a complete understatement. It was a close tie between this look and when he was all mussed and sweaty from work.

Deeks' grin widened, and he offered her his arm, folding his other hand over hers in the crook of his elbow as he led them into the restaurant.

"Well, my mom is a realtor and my dad is in the Marines. In a supervisory position," Kensi explained to Deeks, pausing to spear a piece of ceviche with her fork.

"Is that what inspired you to become an NCIS agent?" Deeks asked. A plate of perfectly cooked carne asada sat in front of him, but he hadn't taken a bite in a few minutes, too busy chatting.

Unlike most of her recent dates, he actually seemed interested in what she said.

"Actually, it wasn't. I planned to joined the armed forces, up until my senior year of high school. I even started looking into applying, and then one of my dad's friends came to visit. He was with NCIS and when I heard him talk about the cases he worked and seeking justice for people in the military, something clicked."

"It's good you met him, cause you're clearly amazing at your job."

Kensi side-eyes Deeks, skeptical of his compliment. "So far you've only seen me ask a few questions and nearly asphyxiate. I'm not sure that's indicative of my skill as an agent."

"I'm an excellent judge of character," Deeks said smugly, trying, and completely failing, to conceal a smirk.

"Oh really."

"And I might have read your reports related to the two fires," he admitted. "There were very good."

"Thanks, I think. No one's ever complimented my paperwork on a date before," Kensi said dryly, and Deeks snorted, looking to the side for a second. Despite herself, she was smiling too.

"What about you, how did you end up as firefighter? Let me guess, your dad?"

Deeks shook his head, a cynical note to his chuckle. "Definitely not. It's probably better if we just leave my father out of the whole conversation."

"Fair enough." It certainly spiked Kensi's curiosity, but a first date was definitely not the time for diving deep into family issues.

"No, I was in my first year of law school, preparing to be the next Johnnie Cochran according to my mother," he continued. "Then one night, I was driving home from studying with a friend, and I see smoke coming out of an apartment. It was like 2 in the morning, so no one else was around. And you know, I didn't have a cell phone or anything back then to call 911. So, I ran over, kicked in the door, which is so much harder than it looks, and started yelling for people to get out."

"Oh my god," Kensi gasped, caught between amazement and horror.

"I know." Deeks gave her a look that suggested he expected some kind of reprimand. "It was incredibly stupid, but I was working on instinct and pure adrenaline."

"Well, what happened?"

"The tenants had a party and drank a little too hard. No one noticed that a candle didn't get put out, and they didn't smell the smoke until it had spread from the living room to the kitchen. I was able to wake everybody up and they got out with only a couple injuries," Deeks finished, leaning forward. He shrugged. "After that night, I knew I didn't want to do anything else. I quit law school, much to my mom's horror, and started taking courses in fire science."

"That's amazing. Incredibly stupid and dangerous like you said, but really amazing," Kensi said. If possible, it made her admire him even more. Maybe even more so because he'd managed to tell the story without being falsely modest or sounding egotistical.

"Eh, maybe I just enjoy running into burning buildings and the excuse to break things," he joked. "No, like you said, it felt right. And I'm pretty good at it too." He said the last part with a knowing grin.

"Well, you were pretty good at carrying me out of that building," Kensi agreed, leaning towards him so now there were just a few inches between them. Deeks' smile softened, his eyes impossibly blue in the low light.

Kensi was just about to suggest they skip dessert, when Deeks frowned, glancing down, and fumbled in his pocket for his phone. "Crap, it's from The Captain. There's a fire at a security firm. It's a total loss, but they need all hands on deck to help contain it." He stood, grabbing his wallet and laying several bills on the table. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok. Which security firm did you say it was?" Kensi asked, something niggling at the back of her mind. In answer, Deeks handed her his phone as he set a brisk pace for the exit. "Deeks, this firm in involved in an open NCIS case. I need to call my team."

A/N: Yes, the dark blue dress shirt makes a return. At this point, I'm not even sure if Deeks has ever worn a shirt like this, but it's my favorite.

I'm also introducing a little more plot, but this will remain largely about Kensi and Deeks.