Prompt: Can you do a fic where someone recognizes Deeks as Max when he's with Rosa?

A/N: I feel like I've written something similar to this before, so apologies if it's a repeat.

"And over there is where is this little diner where my best friend, Ray, and I would go after school," Deeks said, pointing across the road to a dingy building that had seen better days. Some things had changed over the years, but the little restaurant seemed an eternal fixture. "Well, when he wasn't grounded, and we had the spare cash."

Beside him, Rosa followed his gaze, shielding her eyes against the afternoon sun.

"Did you get in trouble a lot as a teenager?" she asked, turning back to fix him with a curious look.

"You know what, I don't think we really need to go into that." She already knew a few of his less noble exploits and figured mapping out all his poor adolescent decisions wasn't necessary.

Rosa laughed softly, but didn't press the issue.

"Thank you for taking me here," she said a few minutes later. After hearing a little bit more about his childhood, Rosa has requested a tour of his old neighborhood. Personally, Deeks didn't love the idea of revisiting the place, but since Rosa seemed so interested, he didn't see the harm.

He wouldn't be giving a tour of the bar he and Ray frequented in later years.

"You're welcome," Deeks told her. "I know it's not much to look at, but it was home for a long time. It's where I learned to play basketball, found my first surfing buddies, and yes, got into a reasonable amount of trouble too."

"From what Roberta and Kensi say, you helped a lot of people too," Rosa commented, fondness in her tone. He felt the heat of embarrassment that always came whenever she regarded him with so much respect.

"Sometimes," Deeks agreed. "But I definitely wasn't a saint." He offered her a wry smile. "Now how about I take you to my favorite ice scream shop?"

Eyeing him knowingly, Rosa nodded. "I'd like that."

They crossed the street, passing by a strip of small stories and restaurants. A few were closed or sporting out of business sales.

"Just as fair warning, this place is going look super sketchy," Deeks told Rosa, brushing by two or three people headed in the opposite direction. "But I promise they have the most amazing—"

"Max? Max Gentry!" Deeks tensed at the sound of a name he hadn't used for years now, hand stilling on Rosa's back. She didn't respond immediately, not recognizing the significance of the name.

Before Deeks could escape, someone grabbed his arm, and a man about his age with short graying hair pulled him to a stop.

"Max, knew it was you."

"Gabe," Deeks responded with a short nod, recognizing the man who had committed a few minor crimes in between more honest work. He wasn't necessarily a bad person, or at least not the worst Deeks had come in contact with.

"So how the hell you been? And where you been?" Gabe asked, slapping Deeks on the shoulders a few times. Rosa glanced between them with confusion and curiosity, but thankfully remained quiet.

Deeks' jaw clenched tightly against the bitterness welling up inside him. It seared his throat and when he spoke again, his voice was gravelly and just short of anger.

"I got into some trouble a while back and when I got out, had a friend who offered me a decent job. Been working there ever since."

"Man, never pegged you to go honest," Gabe commented, chuckling as he shook his head. "The way I remember it, you always had some racket going, beating someone up."

"Yeah, well, times change," Deeks bit out.

"Yeah, they do. And who's this pretty lady?" Gesturing to Rosa, Gabe licked his bottom lip. "She your new girl?"

Beside him, Deeks felt Rosa withdraw a little in response. Deeks squeezed her arm reassuringly, knowing it wasn't nearly enough to excuse this awful moment, while he glared at Gabe.

"She's my friend's kid sister."

"Oh, well she's real cute—"

"Hey, she's 17," Deeks growled, dropping into Max without even thinking. He grabbed Gabe by the neck and front of his jacket and let his fingers dig in. "So you even think of putting your damn hands on her, and I'll break my clean record and you're face in a second."

"What the hell, man? Relax," Gabe stuttered out, eye wide with sudden panic. "I wasn't planning anything."

"Good." Deeks gave his neck another squeeze before releasing him and taking a step back. He spared Rosa a half-glanced to see she looked equally stunned by his reaction, her arms crossed over her chest.

Straightening his jacket, Gabe watched him with a fearful, slightly angry expression.

"I'll be seeing you around, Max," he muttered, turning away and making a hasty retreat.

"What just happened, Marty?" Rosa asked, once he was out of sight. Deeks closed his eyes briefly, rubbing his hands through his hair. God, he'd screwed up. "Why did that man call you Max?"

She looked less stunned now, but more curious than ever and definitely worried.

"Max Gentry is one of my aliases," he explained quietly, conscious that more "old friends" could be lurking around.

"Was he always so…violent?" The question came out little more than a whisper and Deeks wanted to punch something. Mainly himself.

"Yes. Like I said, I wasn't a saint."

A/N: I feel like a lot of Deeks' past would be very hard for him to share with Rosa and bring of feelings of self-loathing.