Ability Augmentation

"How do you feel Mr Deeks?" Hetty asked.

"Like I've been tenderized and then stuffed," Deeks replied in between drinks from his water bottle. "One question. Is everyday going to be like this?"

"Just the mornings, Mr Deeks," Hetty answered. Deeks sighed with relief. He wasn't yet sure how he was going to work out his time between Hetty and Kensi. "I'm sure your classes with Miss Blye with keep you quite busy after work. She is most excited."

"Thank you Hetty," Deeks said, not even bothering to ask how Hetty knew. 'It's Hetty' was usually the answer that the team came up with. Although he was puzzled about one thing. "Hetty, can I ask a question?"

"I'm not sure, Mr Deeks. Can you?" Hetty wondered with a slight smirk.

"Touché," Deeks chuckled. He waited a moment before continuing. "Why Japanese?"

"Why not?" Hetty shot back. Deeks narrowed his eyes, studying his boss.

"Hetty, I've been around you long enough and been on the receiving end of your schemes before. I can tell when you have something in the works. Going to tell me what it is?" Deeks asked.

"Mr Deeks, you came to me wanting to learn a language. Of all the languages that your team speaks, only Mr Hanna speaks Japanese. As he is Mr Callen's partner, which would leave you and Miss Blye at a disadvantage if a case involved anyone that spoke Japanese. I am merely correcting this disadvantage," Hetty explained calmly. Deeks wasn't sure he believed Hetty's explanation, at least not entirely. His gut and past experience was telling him there was something else in the works. He also knew that Hetty wouldn't reveal anything to him until she was ready.

"Alright Hetty, I'll leave you to your mysteries," Deeks said as he stood. "Ah, Hetty. One more question."

"Yes, Mr Deeks?" Hetty queried.

"More of a request, really," Deeks continued. Hetty raised an eyebrow as her only response. "Right. Anyway, I was curious if we could keep these lessons, since I'm learning more than just a language; between us. At least for the moment."

"To what purpose, Mr Deeks?" Hetty asked, schooling her features to hide her curiosity at his request. "I would think that you would want your team to know what you are doing to better yourself, not only for yourself, but for them as well."

"I do, eventually. But…" Deeks stumbled. "I have set myself a goal. It might take me a bit accomplish, both in time and effort but I want to reach it. This is where I am starting. This is the first step down a path that I didn't think was mine to walk but everyone here has shown me that even the hardest road can be taken when you have people beside you to help. And I am pretty sure that this will not be the last time I ask you, or others for help."

"Sometimes we all need a little help, Mr Deeks," Hetty said with a smile.

"Hetty, did you just quote Charles Xavier?" Deeks asked, taken aback. Hetty just continued to smile as she turned and walked away.

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"Well well, look who beat us all to work," Sam said with a big smile as he and Callen walked into the bullpen to find Deeks working on some old files. "What got you in here so early?"

"My New Year's resolution actually. I have decided to try and get to work a little earlier each morning so that I am ready for the day ahead," Deeks responded to the growing incredulous looks from his team mates. "That and the surf this morning wasn't worth being late for."

"Ah, there it is," Callen said with a smile. He looked over to see Kensi walking in. "Morning Kensi, your partner was here before we were. Any comment?"

"He woke up to an empty bed and was so disappointed he is trying to hide behind his paperwork," Kensi stated as she unpacked, laying her laptop and several file folders on her desk. "Or the surf sucked."

"Ahah, partner synchronicity at work," Deeks exclaimed. Any further comments were stalled by the sound of a Boatswain's call from the top of the stairs. They all looked up as Eric appeared.

"All hands on deck. We have a case," Eric called before he turned back to ops.

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It was the end of the day before they returned to ops. They had been chasing down a stolen shipment of weapons from Camp Pendleton and had spent their entire day either on the road or interviewing suspects. They had tracked down 3 of the 4 conspirators involved in the theft but the 4th Marine, along with the weapons shipment, had disappeared without a trace. General consensus was that he had used the other three to acquire the weapons before spooking them to cover his own escape. With no leads as to where he went, or what he planned to do with the weapons, they were at a dead end.

"Eric, Nell, anything?" Sam asked as the four walked into Ops.

"Sorry guys. The Gunnery Sergeant has gone off the grid and we have no way to track the weapons without him," Eric answered, turning away from his workstation. "We'll keep looking.

"FBI, ATF and the other agencies have been notified of the theft and will be on the lookout," Nell continued. "Until something else comes up or we get any new information. The case is cold."

"That is what were figured as well," Callen confirmed. "We had hoped you had something for us to follow up with but it would seems that is not the case."

"Sorry guys," Eric apologized.

"As it seems that we have nothing to go on, I suggest everyone find other uses for their remaining time today," Hetty said, appearing in ops. "Unless you would like me to find something for each of you to do." No sooner had she spoken than the team practically ran out of ops.

"I'm going to the range," Kensi said as she started to descend the stairs.

"Gym," Sam and Callen said simultaneously with a glance at each other. They too, descended the stairs. Deeks went to follow before a voice behind him stopped him.

"Mr Deeks," Hetty called. Deeks stopped and turned to face Hetty. "I have been considering what you said this morning. I believe I know what your goal is and I can help you to achieve it in several ways. I can even keep it confidential so that team does not find out until you are ready."

"Wow," Deeks exclaimed, shocked.

"However, before I can do any of that, I need something from you," Hetty explained. Deeks narrowed his eyes but didn't turn away, clearly curious what Hetty wanted. "It isn't anything too complicated Mr Deeks. Just a signature." Deeks couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face.

Author's Note

Hi everyone. I want to thank everyone for readying and following my first attempt at a fanfiction. It seems to have been well received. Ironically enough, this was meant to be a one-shot. However when uploading I seem to have missed the 'Complete' button somewhere and before I realized, several people had followed it. So, 2nd chapter.

I hope everyone will join me again for the 2nd in the series, #02 Ballistic Betterment. I hope to have it out by the end of the week.

Special Thanks to:

"Guest": Thank you for the great review and finding the spelling error. Will be correcting that. Also thank you for the inspiration for the first part of this chapter. Helps to tie things together nicely with events further down the track.

OhBuddy66: Coming from you sir, I am flattered.

Sweet Lu: Very appreciated review.

Thank you again to everyone who has read and reviewed.

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