TITLE: A Helping Hand

AUTHOR: Kat/krazykitkat
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of Shane Brennan Productions, CBS Television Studios and Belisarius Productions. No copyright infringement is intended.
THANKS: To the wonderful Jen for making this so much better.

The thud of the front door closing wakes her.

She's disoriented, wondering why she's in the bathtub instead of her bed. Then she knocks her leg against the side of the tub and remembers.

"Kens?" His voice echoes through her apartment.

She sighs. While they've essentially been living together since he transferred back to LAPD (though she's resisting the final step), she'd been expecting to be alone tonight. She can't recall why exactly, her brain is fuzzy, but after the day she's had, she was really looking forward to the down time.

"Kensi?" There's a note of urgency in his voice.

"Bathroom," she calls, moving carefully to avoid sloshing water onto the tiles. She tries to smile in greeting as he enters the room, but thinks it probably more resembles a grimace.

"Would you like some water with your Epsom salts?" Deeks gestures to the large empty box on the counter, as he kneels down next to the tub and kisses her on the forehead.

"Funny boy." Her voice is groggy as she strokes the back of her fingers across his cheek.

"So I've been told." He captures her hand and lightly presses his lips to the battered knuckles as he studies her face. "You awake?"

"Possibly." She opens her eyes wide, trying to clear the remaining haze from her head. "What's the time?"

Deeks glances at his watch, makes a vague comment about evening, and launches into a one-sided conversation about his day. She notices he's examining her and when she catches his eye, he gives her what passes for a lecherous grin. And then she remembers why she wasn't expecting him.

"Don't you have tickets to the game tonight?" she asks, as her shoulders start to tense.

"Nope." He shakes his head, but he's not meeting her gaze and she recognizes the set of his lips. "That's next week."

"You're a terrible liar, Detective Deeks." She frowns and can't keep the annoyance out of her tone. "I told Callen not to call you."

"He didn't." Deeks places a fingertip on her lips before she can shift the blame to Sam. "Take it up with Hetty."

She sits up and pushes his hand away, snapping, "She had no right. It wasn't a joint LAPD operation. You didn't need to know."

"Yeah, how dare she think I might want to know that my girlfriend was badly beaten and surprise, surprise, is refusing to go to the hospital." He's trying to keep his voice down, but his exasperation is clear.

"I can look after myself." She sounds like a sulky teenager even to her own ears, and almost regrets her words. She isn't good at this, and she's not sure she'll ever be.

"Doesn't mean you have to." He's no longer bothering to hide the frustration and points out the door. "You want me to leave?"

She very nearly says yes and sees the disappointment in his eyes as he reads her expression. She lowers her head and stares into the water. In her peripheral vision she sees him place his hands on the edge of the tub to push himself up.

She's not sure what scares her more: that she's let someone get this close again, or that she could lose him if she doesn't give a little. What she does know is that it's her move and she needs to make it fast. She reaches out and grabs his wrist, before finally shaking her head.

He settles back down beside the tub and cups her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. She bites her lip, trying to hold back the tears that are starting to well in her eyes

"Then deal with it," he says softly. His forgiveness is there in his gaze.

She nods and leans into his touch, letting her anger go as they sit quietly.

A car horn breaks the reverie and she takes the opportunity to open up to him. "The other guy ended up in hospital."

He snorts. "I expected no less." And there's that look that she hasn't realized she's been missing since they ended their work partnership. A mixture of pride and awe.

He circles a bruise blossoming on the outside of her knee. "That's going to be impressive."

She wonders whether there's something very wrong with her that she feels sexiest when he's cataloguing her battle wounds. She settles back against the tub and relaxes as his hands inspect her body.

"Pizza, Thai or Chinese?"

It takes a moment for the question to register. "Thai sounds good." She groans as she shifts into another position.

Deeks squeezes her hand that's clenching the side of the tub. "You taken anything?"

"No." At his raised eyebrows, she continues, "I really want a beer first."

He laughs and rolls his eyes. "I love your priorities."

"You haven't seen the horse tranquiliser Hetty gave me. I think it'll knock me out for a week." Although she may end up grateful for oblivion with the increasing speed new aches are making their presence known.

"Well." He leans over to her, a smirk playing on his lips. "How about some natural pain relief then?" He gently parts her knees and slides a hand down the inside of her thigh.

Heat is already pooling low in her belly as she spreads her legs. She places her hands on either side of his face, brings his mouth into contact with hers, and gives a little.