A/N: This was inspired by a conversation I had with mashmaiden. We may have just a small amount of angst.

Kensi watched Deeks from across the room. He was humming under his breath as he checked something under the bar and then made a note on his clipboard. In preparation for his three months at FLETC, he was getting everything settled at the bar so his mom could temporarily run it in his absence.

"Roberta," she started when Deeks walked into his office for a minute, turning to face her mother-in-law.

"Yeah, honey," she said, pausing in the middle of washing a table.

Kensi hesitated, then barreled on with the thoughts that had been plaguing her for the last week or so.

"Do you think Deeks is happy?" Roberta chuckled at her question, not considering it for more than a second.

"Of course he is. Why wouldn't he be?"

"I don't know...I guess," Kensi paused, pressing her lips together, trying to find a way to express herself without sounding like she was criticizing Deeks. "He seems more cynical than he used to be."

"Oh, I don't think so," Roberta said, once again dismissive. Kensi stared at her for a moment, wondering if they were talking about the same person.

"Really?" Kensi gestured to Deeks' office. "Because a few years ago, Deeks was always the one who saw the light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what problem we had, he had a solution, or assured me that we could handle it. He made me smile, even on the worst of days." Her eyes flicked up for a second and she swallowed harshly. "I don't see that smile as much anymore."

Roberta reached across the table to squeeze her hand.

"Oh Kensi honey, people go through changes. Especially now with his work and the worries about money, I'm sure he's just stressed."

Kensi wished it was that simple, that she could blindly believe Roberta's words. But that would just be sticking her head in the sand, like she'd tried with their financial problems, and that wouldn't help anyone.

"It's not that recent," she continued. "It's just more obvious now. I'm worried-" Kensi was horrified as she felt a couple tears gather in her eyes. "What if I make him unhappy?"

"Kensi, that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Roberta said in an incredibly loud voice. Kensi glanced at the office, hoping that Deeks hadn't heard. "That boy loves you more than anything and he's never been happier."

"Sometimes it feels like I just make him miserable and cause more stress," Kensi said bitterly, thinking of when they'd first met. He hadn't had a wife, bar, and mortgage to keep him up at night then. "Maybe if we'd never gotten together he wouldn't have all this to worry about." Roberta leaned forward suddenly, the fierceness of her expression vaguely alarming. It occurred to Kensi, maybe a little belatedly, that this was the same woman who had almost single-handedly raised Deeks and wasn't to be messed with.

"You listen to me Kensi Marie Blye-Deeks, I know my son. We weren't on very good terms then, but when Marty was working undercover...he wasn't in a good place."

"What do you mean by not a good place?" She knew Roberta's tendency to be hysterical at times, but they'd never talked about Deeks time as a detective much. As far as she'd known, they'd barely spent any time together during his early years as a detective.

Shaking her head, Roberta looked past Kensi for a second, looking remarkably like her son.

"When he joined that undercover unit, he never tell me much about it, but I knew it was dangerous. Anyway, I dropped by his apartment one day and his face was all bloody and bruised. Naturally I was horrified, but he tried to tell me it was just a part of the job.

"We argued and I got mad and asked him if he was trying to get himself killed. He snapped. Told me he was tired of seeing people get hurt. And then something about sometimes violence was the only way to get things done. That's when we stopped talking for the most part."

This time Kensi reached out for Roberta's had and quietly said,

"He never told me about that. I can't imagine how scared you were."

"I was terrified," Roberta agreed. "You wanna talk about cynical, I've never seen a boy so bitter and fed up with the world." She smiled softly, surprising Kensi. "But then he met your team, he met you, and everything changed. Suddenly he had a purpose in life beyond his job. I didn't realize until much later why there was a brightness in his eyes that I hadn't seen in years and his smile was finally genuine again."

Kensi felt shocked and overwhelmed at Roberta's revelation.

"Roberta, as I much as I wish that was true, I was just as much of a mess. I didn't do anything for Deeks," Kensi insisted.

"You save my boy, Kensi," Roberta repeated firmly. "Without you, who knows where he would be right now. And I will always be grateful for that." A tear trickled down her cheek and Kensi leaned across the table, hugging her tightly.

She wasn't sure she deserved it, but she was grateful for Roberta's faith in her. It was more than she ever expected.

"I don't know what I'd do without him," she whispered, sitting back and rubbing under her eyes with the hem of her sleeve. "And I don't know how to help him now."

"Oh hun, it's like I said, he's just having a rough time. He's one of those people who lets the weight of the world fall on his shoulders," she paused and gave Kensi a wry look, "like somebody else I know. You just have to see him through to the other side, like you always do for each other."

"What if I make it worse?"

"You won't," Roberta assured her. Hell, you guys have survived comas, and bombs, terrorists every other work...I think you can manage this. More importantly, you have love on your side. As long as you love each other, you can do anything."

"I do love him," Kensi said fiercely. "More than anything."

"Then that's enough." Roberta stood, holding out her arms. "C'mon honey, I think we both could use another hug." Kensi put her arms around her shorter frame, holding her tightly. "And maybe a shot or two of the expensive stuff Marty keeps locked in the back."

Kensi laughed a little, nodding, and dropping her arm around Roberta's shoulders.

"Thank you."

"Anytime, kiddo," she said, marching towards the bar. "Now where did Martin hide the key this week?"

Kensi shook her head, amused and grateful for the crazy, wonderful second family she'd been gifted with.