A/N: A small fic set in season 12 when Deeks is still laid off.
"Deeks, have you seen the—crap," Kensi muttered, cutting herself off when she realized Deeks wasn't there to answer her. After a few weeks, she'd have thought she would be used to Deeks' absence, but somehow she kept forgetting about his lay off.
"Kind of hard to get used to him not being here, isn't it?" Sam observed, surprising Kensi out of a quick spiral into darker thoughts.
"It's not the end of the world though." It just felt like it was most days.
"Is he doing ok? He's seemed kind of…subdued when I went to see him yesterday," Sam asked, posing it as a casual question. She could tell he'd be waiting for the right moment, and she resisted the urge to squeeze her temples.
"Yeah, he's good," she told him with the best smile she could muster. "He's just been under a lot of pressure with everything happening with his job right now, and the bar. It's a lot."
"I've seen Deeks under pressure before. And seen him quiet. This is different. He seems defeated that I've very rarely seen." He paused, his hesitation unexpected. "I'm worried about him, Kensi."
"Well, he didn't exactly expect to be here at this stage in his life." She couldn't hold back the bitterness in her voice. Because for all she put on a brave face for Deeks, she did blame both NCIS and LAPD for treating him with so little respect. He deserved so much better, and she couldn't do anything to help.
"That's understandable. I know I would feel lost if I suddenly lost my job," Sam said, his calm and reason fairly annoying at the moment. "How about I invite him over for dinner tonight? We can have a "man-to-man" conversation."
"I don't think Deeks would appreciate that right now." She could only imagine how upset Deeks would be if he found out she was discussing his personal problems with Sam. Especially this one which he was so sensitive about. "Thanks for the offer though."
"Ok. I'll be here if you change your mind," Sam told her, squeezing her shoulder once before he went on his way.
Kensi offered another weak smile. Somehow she didn't think all the conversations in the world would help Deeks right now.