When they arrived back at the boat shed, Callen, Kensi, and Rountree were grouped around the main table, on a call with Eric. Rountree caught Sam's eye as they walked in, and held up a finger, brows furrowed as Eric rattled off some information.

Deeks instantly felt his spirits lift at the sight of Kensi. She smiled back, walking over as the phone call finished up.

"Hey, how's it been with Rountree?" Deeks asked, tone lowered.

"He talks less than you, but has worse taste in music, so it's kind of a trade off," she teased.

"And I'm loving the lack of candy wrappers and partially eaten sandwiches of questionable age."

"Jerk." The word was filled with so much fondness that he knew Kensi had missed him as much as he did her.

"So, did you find out anything from your interviews?"

"Yeah. Sergeant Wiles' wife said her husband had been helping out a friend of his who was having trouble with a bad loan. She couldn't give us a name, but she did say they talked the day Wiles went missing before. The last time she saw him, Wiles told her he was going to take care of things."

"That definitely fits with everything his former commander said about him," Deeks mused. "I'm assuming Callen hasn't gotten anything out of Tom Nelson yet."

"Nope. Eric's going through Wiles' recent contacts now. Hopefully we'll figure out who he was meeting with," Kensi explained. She glanced back at the others, Sam had joined Callen and Rountree, giving them the illusion of privacy.

"Callen mentioned you guys had to swap out because you were hurt. What happened?" Her eyes roved over him in an automatic assessment.

"Eh, I tore my burns open when we were taking Nelson in," Deeks told her, brushing off her concern. There was no reason to distract over something so stupid.

"Oh my god!" Kensi touched his shoulder, seeming to forget their current hands off at work policy.

"Don't worry, Sam was a perfect nurse and took care of all my wounds," Deeks said, winking at him playfully. Sam shook his head, but didn't intrude on the conversation.

"Well, I'm not sure how I feel about Sam getting all touchy-feely, but I'm glad he was there." Kensi smoothed her hand down his arm once. She heaved a sigh, then released him, pulling on her agent face. "Can't leave you out of my sight for two seconds," she sighed.

Deeks smiled, shrugging off the shiver that worked its way up his spin. Which of course twinged one of his burns, making him wince reflexively.

"Babe, you ok?" Kensi asked, lightly touching his chest, concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I just, uh—"

He was saved from having to come up with a response.

"Hey, love birds, Eric got us a lead!" Sam called out. "Get your butts over here."

Kensi pulled her hand back and cleared her throat sheepishly. "We'll finish discussing this at home," she murmured.

"On the day he died, Wiles spoke with a Richard Bamboat for 20 minutes. He also called or texted that number several times over the last month," Callen explained as they joined the rest of the team.

"Wiles also transferred several hundred dollars to Bamboat's account over that time in varying amounts," Rountree added.

"So, you think Bamboat might have something to do with Wiles' death?" Kensi asked.

"It's a possibility."

"Could be he didn't have any idea what Wiles had planned. Or, he's too afraid to come forward even if he suspects something," Deeks said.

"Either way, Kensi and Rountree, go talk to him," Callen decided. "Deeks, you wanna join me for the rest of Tom Nelson's interrogation? I think you deserve it after tearing your back open."

"I would love to," Deeks agreed. He flashed Kensi a parting smile, following after Callen, ignoring how uncomfortably warm he suddenly felt.

A/N: Hm, maybe Deeks should have those burns looked at by a professional. Thanks for continuing to read this little story!