A/N: This was originally written post "Love Kills" when I was still freshly angry about certain events in that episode.

I have dubbed Instructor, Instructor Jones. I hope he's happy with his name. For the purpose of this fic, we're going to imagine that Deeks did not fall asleep after disarming that bomb or whatever.

"Alright, everybody, that's it!" Instructor Jones shouted as yet another student was knocked flat on his back. "You have 30 minutes to shower and change and then I expect you in parking lot D for explosive device training."

Deeks sighed, glancing around at his classmates-his decidedly younger classmates-and pushed his sweaty hair back from his forehead. Today had not gone as planned; he was kicking himself for screwing things up so quickly. As everyone started grabbing their gear, he cleared his throat noisily and called out,

"Instructor Jones, uh, Sir, can I try again?"

"You already had your turn, Deeks," Jones said, sounding annoyed and unsurprised to see who was making the request.

"Yeah, but you see, I was kind of nervous and I sometimes do stupid things when I'm nervous. So if I could just‒"

"Fine!" Jones muttered something under his breath, shaking his head and motioned for the bigger hulk to come back over. "Andrews, Deeks wants to try again. You think you can manage that?"

"With pleasure," Andrews said, his words a little distorted by all the headgear. He stalked closer to Deeks, or as much as he could with all the added bulk, and stood waiting for him to attack.

"You know, I work with a guy about your size," Deeks said, gesturing to Andrews' hulking build. "His name's Sam Hanna, you might have heard of him. He's kind of a legend." Andrews shifted a step closer and Deeks backed away, edging to the side at the same time. Behind him, he could hear people muttering and felt a bead of sweat slide down his spine. "Like I said, he's your size, but he usually doesn't wear this much armor in hand-to-hand combat.

"It's a safety measure," Andrews said, sounding angry.

"Oh, for sure. I just think Sam would call that cheating."

"Just shut up and fight."

"That's the plan," he muttered. They circled each other for a couple minutes, the tension around them growing with every second, and then Andrews struck out, aiming for Deeks' chest. He easily evaded it, following up with a jab of his own that made little impact against the protective chest plate. Still, he'd gotten past Andrews' defenses.

"Actually, the first time I fought Sam was at an MMA gym and he had at least 30 pounds on me. I've gotten a lot better since then."

"Don't you ever stop talking?" Andrews growled, trying to punch him a couple more times. He might have brute force and size on his side, but especially without all the armor, Deeks was a lot more agile than Andrews.

"Not really," Deeks said with a smirk. Making an enraged noise, Andrews charged him this time and Deeks was ready. He twisted around his back, sweeping his leg into the back of Andrews' knees as hard as he could. Someone gasped as Andrews' knees crumpled, but Deeks didn't look up. He used his body to force Andrews to the ground as the man fought against him and wrapped his legs as tightly as he could around his waist.

Andrews growled at him, almost pushing him off, but Deeks maintained his hold. He hooked his arm around Andrews' throat, applying pressure until he began to still.

"Alright, that's enough, Deeks," Jones called out, walking into view. Deeks tipped his chin back, panting as he slowly released Andrews. He stood up, with more effort than he'd like to admit, offering a hand to Andrews who accepted it reluctantly. "Andrews, go get cleaned up." Deeks waited, wondering if he'd just ruined things for himself completely while Jones looked him up and down. "That was impressive," he admitted reluctantly.

"Thank you, Sir."

"You learn that move from Agent Hanna too?"

"Actually, my wife," Deeks said and Jones shook his head.

"It's been a long time since anybody really took Andrews down," he said, glancing at the rest of the class. Deeks had almost forgotten they were there. "You redeemed yourself. This time."

"Thank you."

"But less smart-ass next time and remember that you won't always get a second chance."

"Got it," Deeks said. He let everyone walk ahead of him and then blew out a long, shaky breath. Every muscle in his body ached, but for the first time today, he'd done something right.