Prompt: I hate how NCIS LA dropped the Kessler arch so I would love to see your take on a Kensi and Kessler backstory i.e. details of his case, how Kensi caught him etc.

I have written a few stories involving Kessler, though I don't think I explored the history that much.

Given the prompt, this one does touch on some sensitive content.

"Hey, what do you want for dinner? I was thinking about making soup, but I'm not feeling it that much," Deeks said as he and Kensi walked through their front door. "How would you feel if I pulled out one of the frozen lasagnas.

"Ooh, I could go for some lasagna. And maybe some garlic bread?" she requested, batting her eyelashes at Deeks.

He chuckled, pulling her close to kiss the side of her head. "Anything for my Ladybird."

"I love you too." Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her pocket with a groan. "If this is Nell—" she broke off as she read the email, which was not from Nell.

"This is to inform you that an appeal hearing for inmate David Kessler is scheduled for August 18th at 9:30AM. Your attendance is requested."

"Kens?"

Her head jerked up at Deeks' gentle inquiry; she'd almost forgotten he was even in the room. Based on his expression, she'd zoned out for more than a few seconds.

"What's going on?" he asked softly, eyes slightly narrowed in concern.

"Um, that was just someone from the Federal Prison in Winona. With an update on a guy I helped arrest a while ago," she explained. "I guess he filed for an appeal, which he's done before, so I'll have to attend of course."

"Kessler. You've never mentioned him before."

"Yeah, it happened a long time ago." Kensi waved her hand dismissively, even as she felt a tightening in her chest and the crawling sensation thinking of Kessler always brought.

Of course Deeks picked up on it. She couldn't hide much from him, for better or worse. Wordlessly, he took her hand and led her to the couch, waiting for her to sit on one side before he joined her, keeping a few inches between them. He tucked a leg under his body, pivoting to face her

"Ok, and what did this guy do?" he asked, a weight to the question.

Inhaling deeply to control the emotions that always came with dredging up this case, focusing on her tightly folded fingers.

"He was an arms dealer and human trafficker," she began. "Of minors." She glanced up briefly, noting Deeks' carefully blank expression. She appreciated that he didn't interrupt.

"When I completed FLETC, I thought I'd spend a couple years as an Agent Afloat or junior agent in another country. Imagine my surprise when the great Hetty Lange approached me. I was starstruck and couldn't believe that she had any interest in me. She was a legend at the academy." Kensi chuckled a little bitterly now, realizing how naive she'd been in her eagerness to prove herself.

"What did Hetty ask you to do?" Deeks nudged her gently.

"She, um, asked me to go under as a teenager and lure Kessler into a trap," she answered with a small shrug. "If I dressed in the right clothes and didn't wear any makeup, I could pass for 16-17. It was enough for Kessler."

"Geez, Kensi," Deeks whispered. "For your first case."

She saw his fist tightly clenched on his thigh, unable to completely hide his growing distress.

"I know." A film of moisture coated her eyes, and she blinked quickly, determined not to show how much this affected her. "He had several places where he would meet the girls he took. Diners, movie theaters, parks. I wound a story about being from a single home, my dad worked a lot, I hated school, didn't have many friends, and he ate it up. We messaged back and forth for a while and then," she sighed shakily. "One day I met him at this rundown little diner off the highway.

"Hetty made it clear that he needed to abduct me and take me to wherever he kept the girls he trafficked. So, I followed him out to his car and let him tie me up and force me in the passenger seat." A few tears slipped down her cheeks and this time, she did nothing to stop them. "Even though I had a tracker and comms, I was terrified the entire time."

"Oh Kensi, come here."

She let Deeks pull her against his chest and wrap her securely in his arms. Digging her fingers into his shirt, she clung to him. Her shoulders shook with a few suppressed sobs. She turned her cheek to the side, sniffing back more tears as she stayed in Deeks' protective hold.

"He drove for a couple of hours and talked the entire time. About what he wanted to do to me, what he'd done to the other girls. Truly awful things. I think that was the worst part. You know, worrying that he'd stop somewhere else or the tracker wouldn't work and he'd have time to do those things to me."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that," Deeks murmured, kissing her temple, his fingers gentle and calming on her back.

"I signed up for it," she said. "I could have said no."

"Yeah, but there's no way you could have known exactly what you were getting into. No amount of training prepares you for that."

"No, it doesn't," she agreed softly. FLETC certainly hadn't prepared her. Being on the streets for a year hadn't. They were silent for a minute while Deeks kept caressing her back.

"How did you get him in the end?" Deeks asked.

"He took me to this old house and dragged me inside, still talking the whole time. It took everything in me not to kick him. Then he dragged me down to this cellar and showed me where he was going to chain me up and where he'd kept other girls. That's when Hetty told me they had enough to charge him and would be there in five minutes.

"I don't think I ever moved so fast. The look on Kessler's face when I broke free and kicked his legs out from under him. By the time a team got there, I had him face down and bound."

"That's my girl," Deeks murmured, and she grinned faintly.

"You know, he sends me letters every Valentines," she added. It felt odd to talk about it so openly. She'd never told anyone about that first case, not even Sam or Callen.

"You're kidding me." Deeks sat up, for the first time sounding genuinely angry.

"I wish I was. They're routed through the D.C. office and they send them on to me.

"This guy sounds obsessive," Deeks commented.

"He is," Kensi agreed. "I think he considers me "the one who got away" in his super creepy way.

"Well, I suppose the silver lining is those letters will be great evidence I favor of him staying put." Shifting again, Deeks eyed her seriously. "But afterwards, we need to stop him. He shouldn't have any kind of access to you."

"I know." She smoothed the furrow between his eyebrows with her thumb. "I haven't really thought about him in years, but in a weird way it feels like I'm 26 all over again."

"Tell me what I can do," Deeks said. She burrowed more firmly into his chest in response, curling her fingers in his hair.

"Hold me. Remind me that he can't touch me," she whispered, closing her eyes tight as Deeks cradled the back of her head, his touch featherlight.

A/N: No, I don't really think messages about an inmate are related via email.

I hope this was ok, and didn't drift too far from the limited canon details surrounding Kessler. I don't really enjoy writing Kessler that much, so I approached the prompt in a roundabout way.