A/N: A little fic set in season 12 while Deeks is laid off and the rest of his and Kensi's life is kind of falling to pieces.
"You know what would be great in here?" Kensi asks, waiting for either Callen or Sam to respond. It's early afternoon on a Friday and so quiet she can hear every tap of finger on keyboard. When they say nothing, she answers for herself. "A taco bar. We could set it up in one of the storage rooms. No one would ever need to know, because no one ever goes in there except for Nell, and then we could have burritos whenever we want."
"I think Deeks is rubbing off on you," Sam comments with a gentle smile.
He's not entirely wrong. The last few weeks have been rough, to put it mildly. She's so used to Deeks being the cheerleader, the eternal optimist in their relationship and among the team. Her efforts to fill in the gaps, all seem to fall flat or come off as forced.
What Kensi wants to say more than anything is, this sucks. They were supposed to be buying their own house, starting a family, and instead the bar is beyond struggling, Deeks all but fired, and they're months into trying to get pregnant.
"Why don't you go home?" Callen suggests, not even bothering to check his watch. "Your paperwork's done and I have it on good authority that the new boss is pretty lenient."
Kensi allows a smile as she imagines Nell's reaction to being called the boss. "Ok, thanks. I'm just going to give Deeks a call."
"Tell him he owes me a game of pool," Sam adds.
"I will."
Deeks picks up after a few rings. "Kens, hi, what's going on?"
"Hey, Callen said I could skip out early," she explains, settling on the sofa set up beyond the bullpen. "I was thinking maybe I could pick you up and take you out to dinner. We've never gotten around to trying that New Mexican place with the couple's margaritas."
Her tone is decidedly flirtatious, but she doesn't really care if someone overhears. With Deeks laid off, they've had even less time together, and she's feeling the strain.
"That sounds amazing, baby," Deeks sighs, and there's a thread of exhaustion in his voice that never quite leaves these days. It's different from the weariness that comes with a week of chasing after ad guys. "But there's so much to do at the bar. Can I have a rain check."
"Oh, yeah, sure." She's pretty proud of how well she hides her disappointment.
"You could go without me though. I, uh, know how much you love your margaritas and a good taco."
"It wouldn't be the same," Kensi admits. "We'll go another time. I'll see you in a little bit."
"Kay. Love you," he says, a little sad and distracted like he's been for weeks.
"Love you," she murmurs back. Clasping her phone between her palms, she leans forward, pressing her lips together to stave off a wave of tears.
She's trying so hard, for the both of them. And it's just not enough.