"I'm sorry I wasn't faster," Kensi apologized.

Deeks shifted the hospital-issue ice pack to the side, peeking at her out of one eye. "Huh?"

Once the scene had been secured, Kensi had ridden with Deeks to the emergency room. He had some mild concussion symptoms, but the bleeding had stopped for the most part and he has lost consciousness again, so now he just had to wait.

Folding her arms tightly, Kensi pressed her lips together, and shook her head. "At the club. I should have gone to you as soon as I suspected something was wrong."

"And then both of us could have been taken," Deeks replied dismissively. She didn't look mollified by that, so he shifted his legs to sit up.

"No, lay back down. You're hurt!" she said, waving him back. He ignored her, catching at her hand.

"Hey, I don't blame you. You found me, I'm alive, and we probably found our killer," Deeks told her. He squeezed her hand, nodding in encouragement.

"If only you didn't end up with a head wound." She brushed her fingers over his temple and brushed some hair back in the process. The causal touch surprised him. He didn't object though.

"I've had worse."

Kensi dropped her hand, a smirk playing at her lips. "I guess you won't be participating in any exotic arts for a few days."

"Yeah, I think my Jack days are over. Fortunately." He grimaced, laying back again so he could look up at her. "I'm burning my Velcro pants the first chance I get."

"That's a shame," Kensi said, giving him a sly look from under her lashes.

"Well, there's nothing stopping me from giving private shows," Deeks said suggestively. Kensi's cheeks and neck flushed, but she didn't look away, her eyes driving into his with an intensity he hadn't seen since that first night. "Especially if I can find my Rose."

Kensi's lips parted, and she leaned closer. Deeks thought she might actually kiss him, but at the last second, she let out an exasperated sigh, snatching her phone out of her pocket.

"It's Callen," she informed him with a roll of her eyes. He nearly laughed at obvious annoyance at being interrupted by work. "He says they have Marie and Zeke in interrogation rooms at the boat shed. Since LAPD is lead, they're waiting for someone to arrive."

"Huh, I thought you guys would jump at the chance to take over," he admitted.

"See, we can behave nicely when we want to," she said glibly. "Honestly though, even if they don't show it, Sam and Callen respect you. In part because you're not intimated by them."

"Really? Is that one of the qualities that made you like me?" he asked, and Kensi groaned.

"Oh my god."

"That's not a no. C'mon Kens, would you deny an injured man?" He put on his very best puppy dog look, jutting out his lower lip.

"You are utterly ridiculous," Kensi told him. "Fine, yes, I like it too. Happy now?"

"Very." He grinned, crossing his arms behind his head. Kensi made an extremely compelling distraction from his aching head. "Just in case you were wondering, I like you too."

Chuckling, Kensi slid the chair be the exam table closer, and sat, leaning her chin on Deeks' arm. "We're hopeless, aren't we?"

"I like to think of it as compatibly chaotic," he disagreed. Kensi snorted, her eyes warm.

"Hey, after you get patched up, you want to join the interrogation?" she asked.

"You know the way to a man's heart, Kensi Blye," he joked.

A/N: Kensi and Deeks have apparently decided that pretending they're not crazy about each other is futile.