Good Morning, Sunshine – A Series Of Ficlets based on "Neighbourhood Watch" (Ep3x22)

Day One

He's woken by gentle puffs of air against his bare skin, each exhale followed by a soft tiny gasp that might be classified as a snore. It's adorable.

He opens his eyes to find her face level with his shoulder, lying on her stomach with her face turned towards him. One arm is around her pillow, next to her head, while the other is stretched out in his direction. He moves his hand slightly, and his fingers graze something warm and pliant. It's her hand. He moves his hand away quickly before she has a chance to wake up and accuse him of groping her while she sleeps.

She's so… unaware, when she sleeps. Her face is smooth, no little frown wrinkles or worry lines that appear when she's awake, and concentrating on the job. He even thinks that there's a hint of a smile curving the tips of those pink, plump, kissable lips. What he would give to be in a position to kiss those lips until she woke up and kissed him back, and then maybe…

But he's not in that position. She barely allows skin to skin contact when they're with others, and need to keep up their cover. If he even tried to get within an inch of her lips, even while pretending to be asleep, she'd murder him. And then get away with it.

He looks at the digital clock on the bedside table next to him. It's ridiculously early for a normal person, but he's a surfer, and it's second nature for him to be up with the sun so that he can catch a few waves before work. He aches to be able to get up and head to Venice Beach and catch a few waves, but he knows he can't – Justin doesn't surf. It sucks.

He flops back down onto the pillows and sighs. What he would give to be able to pull Kensi into his arms and settle back down into sleep with that comforting, warm weight tucked in against him. He shakes his head at himself, knowing that he's not going to be able to get back to sleep, not now. Not when he's put those utterly idiotic images into his brain.

He sits up, places his pillow behind his head and picks up the mystery novel he'd managed to tuck into his luggage before Hetty had got to it and forced in as much clothing as she could without breaking the suitcase. May as well get a couple of chapters read before his "wife" wakes up and demands breakfast.

Day Two

She wakes slowly, revelling in the warm, snuggly soft duvet wrapped around her. She inhales deeply, taking in the sweet smell of sea air coming in through the open window, mixed with the jasmine blossoms growing in the garden.

She rolls slightly, moving so that when she opens her eyes, they're staring out through the French doors, past the balcony and out onto the garden. She smiles to herself, shaking her head at the thought of "French doors", "balcony" and "garden".

She's surprised that this is one of NCIS's safe houses; it's much nicer than anything she's ever had to stay in or guard a prisoner in before. Then again, if Hetty let them stay in nice houses all the time, she'd probably never see them again for all the undercover ops and informant guarding that they'd do, just to stay in the nice houses, apartments and hotel rooms.

'I can hear you thinking,' Deeks mutters suddenly from somewhere behind her.

'Huh?' She rolls over to find him lying on his side, one hand tucked snugly beneath his cheek, smiling at her as he watches her with sleepy blue eyes.

'I can hear you thinking,' he repeats.

'And how can you do that?' she asks curiously.

'I can hear the cogs and mechanics in your brain churning and turning and working,' he says with a cheeky grin.

'Very funny,' she replies.

'I thought so,' he says. 'What are you thinking about?'

'I'm thinking that I should go back to sleep,' she says, flopping back onto her back with a sigh.

'No, you're thinking about something else,' he says, narrowing his eyes at her.

'Go back to sleep, Deeks,' she says, rolling onto her other side so that she's facing away from him.

'Justin,' he reminds her. 'You're sharing this bed with Justin.'

'Then go back to sleep, Justin,' she sighs, sick of this game.

'You don't wanna snuggle with your husband?' Deeks asks, and she knows he's grinning.

'No,' she says immediately.

'You sure, pumpkin?' he asks, moving close and wrapping his arms around her waist.

'Let go, Deeks,' she says, elbowing him in the chest, which, of course, makes him let go immediately.

'Ow,' he grunts. 'Fine. Have some Kensi private time.'

'Thank you,' she replies, curling up on her side of the bed.

He rolls out of bed, and unseen by her, gives her a hurt look. 'I'll be in the pool when you want breakfast.'

And unbeknownst to him, she knows exactly that he's hurt.

Day Three

He's started to get used to sleeping in. Today he's only an hour before the alarm. Maybe one day he'll even actually need it.

She's sleeping on her back, spread out like a starfish. One of her hands is in his, and he knows that he didn't take it, so she must have. One of her feet is touching his leg, and it's colder than ice. He makes a note to buy her some of those fluffy bed-socks that he's seen her wear when at home, and winding down from a case. She likes purple ones, he remembers. Stripes, polka-dots, checkers. He's going grocery shopping today, has to with her appetite. But he doesn't mind. He's cooked for one for so long that watching her enjoy herself is… nice. Having someone to say "goodnight" to at the end of the day, just before they turn out the light is… nice. He thinks that it's time he found someone to cook for, to say goodnight to at the end of the day. Unfortunately, he also knows that he already found her. And she's lying next to him in the bed.

Suddenly, she throws a hand out, whacking him in the face. Right in the mouth. Yup. The woman who he thinks is the one just whacked him right in the mouth. And he loves her even more because of that fact. Yup. Something's wrong with him.

Then again, he's always known that something's wrong with him. He fell in love with a random woman in a gym, thinking that she was a murder victim's girlfriend, and then a drug dealer, but only after thinking that she'd sent nude pictures of herself.

Yup. If people ask for the story of how they met, they're gonna witness some really good improvisation. Of course, it'll always start the same. With a beautiful woman entering an MMA gym wearing a black tank top, jeans, a bag with a strap across her chest and her hair down and wavy.

She's starting to wake up. Her eyes are moving more beneath her eyelids and she's moving more. She lets out a small sigh, and he knows that now would be a good time for him to get up and start breakfast. They went for a run together yesterday – five miles she pushed him. With a smile, he thinks they earned bacon and eggs.

Day Four

He's sweet when he sleeps, she muses, watching him sleep in the dim light of the early morning. Unconsciously, the corners of his lips tip up in a hint of a smile, and the tip of his nose crinkles and wrinkles as he lets out a tiny sigh and hugs the pillow closer to him.

He's a restless sleeper, but she should've known that. He's impossible when he's awake, constantly tapping or humming or talking or eating and drinking and peeing. So it should come as no surprise when it's revealed that he's a restless sleeper, turning from side to side and hugging things and wrinkling his nose in this adorable way that makes her want to kiss it. And it doesn't help that the "things" that he hugs includes her.

She'd slowly eased her way out of his arms for the second time since this op had started, replacing her body, which he finally had relinquished with a frown, with her own pillow, which he accepted with a smile. He's an emotional sleeper, unconsciously wearing his heart on his sleeve.

She sits up, curling up in a corner of the bed, shivering in the early morning breeze. She looks around before finding his grey and blue checked hoodie half poking out from beneath the bed, where she'd kicked it before getting under the blankets on the right side of the bed, which she'd beaten him to. She picks it up and puts it on, allowing the oversized hoodie to swallow her, enveloping her in his scent and warming her with its fleecy lining. There's a magazine sitting on the bedside table and she picks it up, leafing through it until she finds an article that interests her, and settles down to read.

…

He wakes up two hours later, only half an hour before the alarm this time. He smiles into the pillow that he's holding, only to realise that it's not his pillow that he's holding, because his head is occupying his pillow. He buries his face in the mystery pillow, inhaling deeply before detecting traces of his partner's ever so subtle perfume. He looks around for her; she doesn't get up before him. And he finds her exactly as she had fallen asleep only a couple of hours before; wrapped in his hoodie, magazine resting on her stomach, her mouth slightly agape as she sleeps.

He can't help but think that he likes the sight of her in his clothes a little too much.

He touches her ankle; it's cold. He smiles, takes the magazine and puts it back on the bedside table. He gets out of the bed and crosses to her side, pulling up the duvet so that it covers her. She murmurs something incoherent; he stops, suddenly, but he can't make out what she's saying. He sighs softly, and tucks her in before allowing the back of his fingers to brush her smooth cheek.

He reaches over and turns off the alarm, before smiling at the sight of her tucked up snugly, fast asleep. 'Sleep tight, sugar bear,' he smiles before leaving for his run.

Day Five

The sun shines through the window, sneaking through the crack in the curtains and falling on a firmly entwined couple snuggled up on the lounge in the living room, the music from the menu of the DVD they'd been watching playing over and over and over again.

She's dressed in thick, black flannel pyjamas decorated with blue love-hearts, something that Melissa Warren would wear but Kensi Blye wouldn't. He's only clad in grey pyjama bottoms, arms wrapped around his "wife".

He wakes up slowly, smiling to himself as he tightens his arms, pulling her close to him and nuzzling her hair.

'Stop it, Deeks,' she says thickly into his bare chest. 'Not your wife.'

'You actually are,' he says, bringing a hand up and starting to play with her hair. 'If you think about it obtusely.'

'I'm not awake enough to think about anything obtusely,' she grunts.

'Then go back to sleep,' he says smoothly, gently rubbing her back.

'Mmmm… Feels nice,' she sighs, soft warm breath dancing over his smooth, tanned skin.

'Good,' he says with a smile.

'Don't smile,' she says immediately.

'How did you…?' he trails off.

'I know you, don't I, Justin?' she asks. 'I mean, I am married to you, aren't I?'

'Well, that's what this huge rock on your finger means, right?' he asks, nodding to her hand.

'Yup,' she replies, looking at it.

He sighs and stretches, yawning widely and she lets out a small noise of annoyance at his movement. 'What?' he asks.

'I was comfy,' she says, rearranging herself back into her previous position, snuggled up comfily against his side, his chest her pillow.

'I'm sorry,' he apologises.

'You should be,' she replied, a teasing grin on her face.

'You gonna make me pay?' he asked.

'Maybe,' she replied. 'When you least expect it.'

'I don't like the sound of that,' he said slowly, shaking his head. 'No, I don't like that at all.' And he poked her in the ribs.

'Hey!' She almost jumped out of his grasp at that. 'That's not fair!' she said accusingly. 'You know that I'm ticklish.'

He grinned devilishly. 'That's exactly why I did it.' And he did it again.

She shrieked with laughter, and grabbed hold of him just as she tumbled to the ground – which meant that he fell down on top of her.

Both laughing ecstatically, he rolled off of her and dropped his head onto the floor while tears streamed down his cheeks. Blindly, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, and together they finally calmed down into a sort of hiccupping sanity.

'I hate you,' she said, shaking her head and wiping tears from her face.

'No, you don't. You love me.'

'Or something like that.'

He reached out and gently wiped a tear from her cheek. 'Something like that,' he agreed.

Day Six

Beautiful. She's beautiful. She's definitely the most beautiful, gorgeous thing I've ever seen. Her long, tan legs are tangled in the sheets and all she's wearing is one of my shirts, an old blue number that barely reaches mid-thigh on her, because she's almost as tall as me. Well, she actually is as tall as me when she wears those high heels that Hetty's so fond of, but when she's at home, here, there's not much reason for her to wear them. So now, she's slightly shorter than me, just the right height for me to wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her hair.

If I were allowed to do that. Which I'm not. Because our relationship dictates that touching only occurs when asleep. Which means that I'm not awake to enjoy it. Which sucks.

But I am awake now, and you know the advantage of being awake when Kensi's asleep? I get to observe her without being accused of staring, or being creepy. And truthfully? She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And I can't help staring.

'I can feel you staring at me,' she mumbles sleepily, and I jump, because I hadn't the faintest clue that she was awake.

'Good morning?' I offer hesitantly.

She opens her eyes and looks up at me sleepily. 'Morning.' She smiles up at me and I grin back. She sighs and stretches luxuriously. 'Sleep well?'

'Very,' I reply. 'You?'

'Lovely,' she says, stretching again, and I can almost swear that she's doing it on purpose, the way that her lithe body stretches and moves, the way the t-shirt rides up, exposing more of her legs than I can really handle. She yawns widely and sighs, dropping her head back down onto the pillow. 'I'm hungry.'

I laugh. 'What do you want to eat?' I ask.

She thinks about this for a moment. 'I think I want… bacon.'

'You always want bacon,' I point out.

'And eggs. And fried potatoes.'

'Okay. I can do that.' Slowly, I roll out of bed.

She yawns again and follows suit, and I avert my gaze as the t-shirt rides up to indecent levels on her body.

'Are you being a gentleman?' she asks. 'I'm surprised, Deeks.'

'I'm not Deeks,' I answer, deflecting the answer. 'I'm Justin, your husband.'

'And my husband would've ogled. You're being a gentleman, Deeks. Who would've thunk it?' she asks, grinning wickedly at me.

'Don't tell Callen and Sam. It'd ruin my rep,' I reply, smiling.

She walks over to me, and brushes a searing kiss against my cheek. 'Sure. Now, go and make me breakfast.'

'Yes, ma'am.' I grin and do what a good husband does: what his wife tells him.

Day Seven

I'm woken by the sound of faint rumbling in the distance. I sit up instantly, knowing that something is wrong, but Deeks is still out of it – as he says, he's from Cali-for-ni-a. He doesn't get out of bed for anything less than a six.

He wakes up when his water glass is shaken off of his bedside table, and smashes into a million pieces.

'Holy…!' He immediately muffles his curse as he sees me curled up in the corner of the bed, shaking along with the earth. 'Oh, Kens.' He reaches out to me, and I take his hand. He tugs, and I crawl into his warm embrace. 'You don't like earthquakes, do you?'

'Nope.' I shake my head, and he sighs and hugs me closer. 'The one thing I really didn't want to happen on this op was an earthquake.'

Suddenly, things start shattering downstairs.

'Hetty's not going to be pleased with the fact that everything is breaking,' I observe.

Deeks hums in agreement. 'I bet everything in my apartment's broken.'

'Hetty might recompense you,' I answer, holding on tighter as the world shakes faster.

'Might,' he replies. 'You okay?' he asks, placing a warm hand on my arm. I shiver in the cold early morning, and realised that that was probably because all I was wearing was one of his t-shirts.

I shiver.

'Are you cold?' he asks, wrapping his arms around me.

'A little,' I reply.

'That's what you get for only wearing a shirt to bed,' he scolds.

'You're only wearing boxers,' I reply, shaking my head at him.

'Yes, but I'm not cold.'

'And if you get cold?'

'I hug you – obviously.'

'You don't feel cold.'

'I'm not.'

'Then why are you hugging me?'

'Because you're cold.'

'I never said that my solution to being cold was to hug you.'

'I don't see you moving away.'

'I'm afraid that if I move away, I'll get shaken out of bed from this damned earthquake,' I reply, shaking my head.

'So I'm your anchor, instead?' he asks, smiling.

'More than you know,' I answer, gazing at him.

He smiles and holds me as close as he can until the earthquake stops.

Day Eight

'Wake-y, wake-y,' Deeks said, looking down on his partner's sleeping form.

'Mmf.' Kensi grunted into the pillow before slowly opening first one eye, and then the other. 'Wha?' she slurred.

'Time to get up, Kens,' he said cheerfully.

'Why?' she grumbled before burying her face in the pillow.

'Because I know it's your birthday, but it's plain unhealthy to miss at least brunch.' And with that, Deeks plonked a breakfast tray in her lap.

'Huh? Birthday?'

'It's your birthday, Kens. Or have you forgotten? You're too young to have memory problems,' Deeks teased. 'Unless you've been lying about your age.'

Kensi rolled her eyes. 'I just… I don't generally celebrate, or even bother remembering my birthday.'

'I know. That's why I'm determined to celebrate it. Now eat your brunch.'

'What time is it?' she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

'Half past ten.'

She almost choked on the coffee she was drinking. 'What? I never sleep this late. What happened to the…?' She looked at the alarm clock, which was suspiciously mute.

'I turned it off. If there is one day where you deserve to sleep in and have breakfast in bed, it's your birthday.'

She sighed heavily. 'Fine.'

'Happy birthday, sugarbear.' And with this affectionate moniker came a kiss on the cheek and a small box pressed into her palm.

'What's this?' she asked, holding up the messily wrapped present.

'It's a present, traditionally given on birthdays,' Deeks said slowly.

'Shut up, Deeks,' she said, accompanied with an affectionate slug to the shoulder.

'Then open it,' Deeks said, nodding to it.

'Did you wrap it?'

'Yeah.'

'I can tell.'

'Hey!'

She tore the pink and purple wrapping from the outside to reveal a dark red velvet wrapped box.

'Deeks…'

'Just open the thing, please?'

She gave him a sceptical look before prying the box open. 'Deeks?'

'Is that all you can say?' he asked.

'It's… beautiful, Deeks. You shouldn't have.'

'Au contraire, Kensi, I should have. You're my partner, and my friend. Giving presents is something that friends do on birthdays.'

'But this?' Kensi lifted the obviously expensive silver charm bracelet out of the box. 'SIG Sauer, handcuffs, a… used bullet? It's all smushed, Deeks. Both of them… Why are there two used bullets on the bracelet, Deeks?'

'One of them is from my Beretta. The other's from your SIG.'

'How did you get them?' Kensi asked, touching them. They'd been polished and cleaned.

'Firing range one night,' Deeks said blithely.

'SIG, cuffs, bullets, a… crystal ice-cube?' She looked at him, clearly confused.

'They didn't have a Titanic or a Jack. Sorry.'

'Shut up. That's your take on an ice-berg? Really?'

'I thought of this too late to get a custom charm made. It was the closest thing they had. Plus, it also has another meaning.'

'Yeah?'

'The amount of times we have to ice because we get beat up.'

She laughed before continuing. 'A beer bottle. A cookie. A random jewel…?'

'It didn't seem sparkly enough.'

'Huh. A knife.' She touched it to her finger. 'Blunt.'

'You think I was gonna run the risk of you accidentally hurting yourself with it?'

'I guess not. A piece of candy. A love heart?'

'I just felt like I needed to fill that spot.' He shrugged.

'Thanks, Deeks.' She stretched up and kissed his cheek. 'Really. I've got no-one to really remember my birthday anymore, so…'

'Happy birthday, Fern.'

Day Nine

Deeks woke to the sound of the door crashing open and the feel of a warm body in his arms.

'Well, isn't this cute?' an altogether too familiar and definitely unwelcome voice said.

Kensi sighed. 'Deeks, tell me you've learnt ventriloquism.'

'Sorry. No. I've actually tried, and it doesn't work for me.'

'Damn. So that means…'

'That Sam just called us cute.'

'Well, he called this cute.'

'This is us.'

'Is this going to turn into another conversation about our thing?'

'There is no thing.'

'There is a thing,' Callen and Sam said together.

'Would you be wrapped up together in bed if there weren't?' Callen added.

'Cuddling,' Sam added.

'We wouldn't be cuddling if we weren't cold because someone let the cold air in,' Deeks said pointedly, finally sitting up with a sigh. 'Come on. It's six thirty in the morning.'

'We were just checking that you weren't taking advantage of Kensi, here,' Callen said, motioning to Kensi.

'If there's going to be any advantage taking, it's going to be me taking advantage of him,' Kensi said, motioning to her partner.

'Really?' Deeks asked. 'I'm flattered.'

'No, it's just that you're too scared of them to make a move.'

Deeks was silent for a moment. Then: 'Do you want me to-'

'No,' Kensi cut him off. 'Now go make breakfast. You guys want breakfast?'

'Depends. Will I end up with food poisoning?' Sam asked, altogether too seriously in Deeks' opinion.

'Nope,' Kensi said, popping the 'p'. 'Go.'

'Yes, ma'am.' Deeks got out of bed and wandered downstairs in his pyjama pants.

'How's it going, Kens?' Sam asked.

'How's what going?' she asked, getting up and retrieving a black satin dressing gown from the back of the door.

'Deeks. You. The assignment in general.'

'I'm good. Deeks is good. The assignment's going pretty alright.'

'Yeah?' Callen asked, distractedly picking up a paperweight and examining it.

Sam nonchalantly wandered around the room, looking everywhere.

'Hang on… You're checking up on us.'

'Checking? Why would we need to check on you?' Sam asked.

'Because you don't trust Deeks not to try and take advantage of me, and you don't trust me not to kill Deeks, and you're feeling unsure about us taking point on this assignment because you always take point,' Kensi said.

'We trust you and Deeks.'

'No. You trust me. You're not entirely sure whether you trust Deeks.'

'Kensi, of course we trust Deeks,' Callen said. 'He's saved your life too many times to count, he's saved this team, he's put his life on the line for all of us.'

'So why don't you trust him as much as you trust me and Sam?' Kensi challenged.

'Sam and I,' Sam muttered under his breath.

Both looked at him.

'Sorry. Kids… never mind.'

'I do trust Deeks, as much as you and Sam. He's a part of the team. But I have to… test him, Kensi. I have to know that he will take care of you and that I can trust him to take care of you. You're like the sister I never got to know, and if something happened to you…'

'Deeks would probably beat himself up worse than whatever you could do to him,' Sam said casually, reading the back of Deeks' novel.

'Sam?' Kensi asked warily.

'It's true. Times you've had to go undercover without him, he's been nervous the entire time, ready to move on the subtlest of voice changes, the slightest hint of danger. I remember the King case. He wanted to move at the slightest cue. When we thought that you'd been blown up by King, Deeks was beating himself up so badly, he thought you were dead.'

'I… I never knew. I mean, I knew that he worried about me when I was under. He came over after work, just to make sure that I was okay.'

'He worried more than you know.'

Suddenly, Deeks' voice yelled. 'Kens! Do you want bacon and eggs, or do you want pancakes?'

'Pancakes and bacon. Duh,' Kensi called back.

'Of course,' Deeks chuckled.

'Come on,' Callen laughed, starting for the door. 'Let's go make sure Deeks doesn't burn himself.'

Kensi shook her head. 'He's safer in the kitchen than I am.'

'That's not hard, Kens,' Sam joked. 'We've all tasted your cooking.'

'And promptly spat it back out again.'

'Coffee!'

'Did Deeks say coffee?' Callen asked, ears metaphorically perking up.

'Deeks said coffee.' And then Kensi led the way downstairs.

Day Ten

'Thought you could sneak out without me, did you?' Deeks panted, running to catch up with his "wife".

'Did I wake you?' Kensi asked sheepishly, slowing to a jog so that he could catch up.

'I was already awake. Early riser. Surfer, remember?'

'You're not as early as you were a week ago,' Kensi teased, jogging backwards to watch him.

Deeks laughed, brushing hair out of his eyes with the back of his hand.

'You need a haircut,' Kensi observed.

'You sound like Sam.'

'You don't need your head shaved.'

'Thank you.'

They both laughed, and Kensi turned around to jog beside him. 'I don't usually run with someone else.'

'Neither do I. Then again, we both know what happens when I jog.'

Kensi glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He was moving easily, without pain. 'How long did it take?'

'To do what?' Deeks seemed to think that if he feigned ignorance, he'd avoid the subject.

'After the – well, you know.' She seemed to have trouble saying it. 'How long did it take for you to go back to running?'

'Well, you kind of have to run when people are shooting at you.'

'Justin…' Kensi said through gritted teeth.

'A month,' he finally relented. 'It took a month. One morning I just got up and… I was running. I even managed to stop by Frank's store to let him know that I was alright. I only go there once or twice a month now.'

'I'm glad to hear it.'

'It's not so bad anymore… unless I see a grey car.'

'And then what happens?'

'I curl into a foetal ball on the pavement.'

Kensi stopped suddenly.

He stopped as well. 'I'm kidding.'

'Not funny.' She began to run again, and he joined her. 'Mmmm.' Kensi inhaled deeply as she ran past a bakery. 'That smells so good.'

'There's a little café up ahead. How about breakfast out today?'

'Sounds like the kind of thing Justin and Melissa would do,' Kensi said thoughtfully. 'Alright.'

'Come on then. Race you there!'

'Hey!' And Kensi chased after her accelerating partner.

Day Eleven

Deeks woke up slowly to the sound of Kensi humming cheerfully, absently browsing through the closet, dressed in only her black satin dressing gown.

'Now that's something I could get used to waking up to,' Deeks said cheerfully.

'Shut up, Deeks.' She threw one of his blue and grey checked flannel shirts at him. 'I'm looking for something to wear. Almost everything's dirty.'

'Well, I'll do the washing this time. Last time, you turned everything purple.'

'What's wrong with purple? Purple's my favourite colour.'

'I know. It's not mine.'

'No. Yours is blue.'

'And my shirts were blue, until you washed them.'

'I did say sorry.'

'At least you didn't manage to shrink them.'

Kensi picked out two dresses, a short, floral red number and a yellow sundress. 'Which one?'

Deeks looked from one to the other before pointing to the yellow one. 'That one.'

'Really?' Kensi asked doubtfully. 'You think I can pull off yellow?'

'Kensi, if anyone could pull off that shade of yellow, it's you. That's why Hetty put it in, isn't it? She'd never give you something she didn't think you'd look amazing in. Of course, if you don't want to wear that, you could just stay in that,' he said, waving his hand at her general silhouette.

'Black satin, huh? I'll chance the yellow one.'

She disappeared into the ensuite bathroom.

Deeks sighed and reclined onto the pillows, luxuriating in the soft plushness of the blankets and pillows and blessed Hetty once again for not skimping on anything, from the food in the house to the clothes they wore to the furniture they used.

'Well?' Kensi asked, and he realised that she'd exited the bathroom while he'd been luxuriating.

He looked up and smiled. 'Did I or did I not say that you would look amazing?'

'You really think this colour is okay?' she asked uncertainly, twirling slowly.

'More than okay.'

'Thanks. I'm going down to the bakery to grab some stuff. Word is that Rob and Bob-'

'Brob, you mean?' Deeks interrupted with a quip.

'Own and run the bakery, so I'll scope it out for anything suspicious. We're out of bread, anyway, so it's no huge hassle.'

'You're not gonna take your gorgeous hubby with you?' Deeks asked.

Kensi gave him a "really?" stare. 'No.'

'You do know that Brob are gay, right?' Deeks asked, smirking.

'You think I'm gonna let them drool over my husband? No thank you.' She gave him a flirty smile. 'I'll see you later.'

'Pancakes will be on the table when you get back.'

'Thank you,' she called back as she walked down the stairs. 'You know, if I were your wife, I'd tell you I love you.'

'And if I were your husband, I'd tell you that I love you more.'

Chapter Twelve

The sun filtered through the thin, filmy chiffon curtains that danced with the slight breeze, lighting up the brightly themed room with golden rays of sunshine.

'Right there!'

'Yes! There! That's perfect!'

'Yes! Oh, God, yes! That's the spot.'

'Yes!' Deeks high-fived his partner as the last zombie on the iPad screen died.

'I told you so,' Kensi said, resting her chin on his shoulder.

'You were right,' Deeks said, nodding.

'Next level?' Kensi asked before poking the button.

'Wait.' Suddenly, an icon popped up on screen, and Deeks pressed it, revealing a ruffled, sleepy looking Eric.

'You look tired, Eric,' Kensi said, her chin tapping against her partner's shoulder.

'I took the night shift. I was about to log off before I figured I could probably check in with you guys. How are you going?'

'Dead end after dead end,' Deeks said, shaking his head.

'We were invited to dinner by a couple for the night after tomorrow,' Kensi said.

'Brett and Polina,' Deeks said, bringing up a photo of them.

'Oh. Those two,' Eric said with a wide grin.

'I'm not even going to ask what that means,' Kensi said, shaking her head.

'I've been through their internet purchases,' Eric laughed.

'Still don't want to know,' Deeks said. 'Have you got anything for us, anything useful?'

'Not really. Whoever this sleeper is, they're good. Really good. They've covered their tracks well. I'm sorry to say, but it's up to you guys.'

'We haven't really heard much,' Kensi sighed. 'We've asked about people's pasts, where they're from, but either everyone are really good liars, or they're all typical American stories.'

'I've been poking around. The old guy living up the street from you has been living there forever,' Eric said, pushing his fingers through his messy hair.

'There's an old guy living up the street?' Deeks asked, looking very perplexed.

'Yes. We saw him drive down the street yesterday, remember?' Kensi said.

'Not really,' Deeks said thoughtfully, tapping at his jaw. 'Wait, the blue pick-up truck?'

'Yeah,' Kensi said.

'Blue pick-up?' Eric asked. 'Did you get a plate?'

'No,' Kensi said, shaking her head.

'Nell should be visiting you later today,' Eric said. 'She's got a bunch of cameras that we'd like you to put around the place.'

'Awesome,' Deeks said glumly. 'How the hell are we supposed to put cameras around this place?'

'You'll find a way. Are there any trees anywhere?' Eric asked with a smirk.

'Yeah. Why?' Kensi asked suspiciously.

'You guys like playing Frisbee, don't you?'

Deeks' eyes lit up. 'Kensi?'

'You're doing the tree climbing,' Kensi said, shaking her head.

'I can live with that.'

'Everyone will think that we're really bad at throwing Frisbees.'

'Isn't everyone?' Eric asked.

'The man makes a point,' Deeks said, motioning to the screen.

'Well, I'll let you guys get back to Plants versus Zombies,' Eric laughed. 'I need to hit the hay.'

'Have a good sleep, Eric.'

'See you guys soon.'

Eric logged off, and Deeks paused, his hand hovering over the icon. 'How did Eric know that we were playing Plants versus Zombies?'

Day Thirteen

Yawning, Deeks poked the button on the coffee maker before taking a couple of mugs from the drainer next to the sink. Still half asleep, he leaned against the counter and waited for the coffee to brew.

Suddenly, jolting him out of his reverie, the phone rang, and he snatched it up before it could properly wake Kensi.

'Hello?' he asked.

'Good morning, Mr Deeks. I'm assuming I didn't wake you?' Hetty's voice said, sounding omnipotent and imperious even on the other end of a telephone line.

'How can you sound so… awake… so early?' Deeks asked her.

'I've always been a morning person,' Hetty said cheerfully. 'I want you to come in tomorrow morning. Act normally, and then just leave as if you're going to lunch.'

'Okay. I'll tell Kensi,' Deeks nodded.

'Have you made any progress since you last checked in?' Hetty asked.

'We placed the cameras during a very energetic game of Frisbee that was more enthusiastic than skilled, at least to onlookers,' Deeks said. 'Nell can now keep an eye on things, run plates of cars that go through the neighbourhood, etcetera, etcetera.'

'Good, good,' Hetty said, and there was a pause, as if she'd taken a sip of tea. 'Any suspects yet?'

'Still everyone in the neighbourhood, except the Felton boys, of course. They're a bit young to be Russian sleepers,' Deeks said. 'Although, their mother…'

'A good cover, to be sure,' Hetty agreed. 'How is your cover holding up?'

'I think it's holding up pretty good. No-one's said that we're not a convincing couple, or anything. If anything, they're too convinced,' Deeks said.

'And how is your partnership?' Hetty queried.

'It'll survive. We're having fun. We never get to do the important undercover stuff, you know, Hetty? We just do the information retrieving or room bugging ops,' Deeks said.

'I genuinely do try to disperse the operations evenly, but sometimes certain ops are suited to certain partnerships. I mean, can you really see Mr Callen and Mr Hanna in that house, befriending the neighbours?'

Deeks let out a soft chuckled at the thought. 'I'd like to see them try.'

'And I haven't the faintest clue what they would have done to plant those cameras, but it wouldn't have been nearly as inventive and intelligent as the solution that you came up with.'

'Did you just compliment us, Hetty?'

'I believe I did. Mr Callen and Mr Hanna would have probably tried to climb power poles at midnight, and I'd be picking one of them up from hospital right now, watching them struggle with a cast on their leg,' Hetty sighed. 'Well, I'd best get going. Your coffee's almost ready. See you tomorrow, Mr Deeks.' She hung up, and Deeks put the phone away before turning to the coffee pot just in time to see the little "ready" light turn on.

'How does she do that?' Deeks shook his head and poured two mugs.

He took them upstairs and placed one on his bedside table and then on Kensi's bedside table, watching with a smile as she slowly began to wake up.

'Did the phone ring?' she asked, pushing hair out of her eyes.

'Yeah. It was Hetty.' Deeks crawled back into bed next to her and picked up his coffee. 'Mmmm.'

'What'd she say?' She slowly sat up, still sleep rumpled, hair going everywhere.

'Wants to see us tomorrow afternoon. Go to lunch, take a slight detour.'

Kensi laughed and took a sip of her coffee. 'Mmmm. Lunch… breakfast?'

Deeks laughed. 'Really?'

'Deeks, we don't know how long this assignment is going to last for. I'm taking advantage of it for as long as I can. And you like it – don't deny it.'

'So you are taking advantage of me!'

Kensi slurped her coffee. 'Some parts of you are worth taking advantage of.'

'I knew I saw you looking.' He smirked lecherously, looking her over.

'Hey!' Kensi drew the duvet up over her chest.

'Fern, would I look if I didn't think there was something worth looking at?'

'I don't know whether to be flattered or creeped out.'

'Be half and half.' Deeks put his coffee cup down.

She put the coffee mug down and sank down into the bed. 'I don't know if I want breakfast, or more sleep.'

Deeks chuckled. 'Sleep. Definitely sleep.' He slipped down under the covers and sighed.

'I wanted to go for a run this morning.'

'Go tomorrow morning. Wake me up and take me with you. Go to sleep now.'

'Alright then.' Kensi cuddled to his side and rested her head on his shoulder.

'Is this really happening?' Deeks asked her, surprised by her actions.

'No. This is a figment of your imagination.' She smiled up at him.

'Okey-dokey. It's a figment, so if I take advantage of it, you won't knee me in the nuts.' He wrapped an arm around her shoulders before yawning.

'Nighty-night, Justin,' Kensi sighed before closing her eyes.

'Night, Mel.'

Day 14

The alarm suddenly went off, playing some slow song saying something about a "black and white photo". Deeks wasn't completely sure. He wasn't awake enough to be completely sure. He yawned before rolling over and reaching for Kensi in the other side of the bed. Cold blankets. No Kensi.

Huh? He sat up and looked around. No Kensi whatsoever.

Slowly, he got to his feet. His "wife-y" was supposed to wake him. Normally, she'd take any chance to make sure he suffered, and waking him up at the crack of dawn would've pleased her to no end.

Barefooted, he began to look for her, walking out of the bedroom. 'Sugar bear?' He padded into the kitchen and made a beeline for the coffee pot, which was mercifully full. He loved his "wife".

He filled a mug and took a mouthful, pausing for a moment to savour the taste and wait for the caffeine to kick in. No burnt toast crumbs or crusts. No dirty bowl in the sink. No mug of half-drunk, lukewarm coffee abandoned on the counter.

Sighing, he resigned himself to the fact that Kensi had, in fact, gone for a run without him. He strode towards the front door and went out to look for her – she had to be getting hungry by now, which was the point at which she headed for home.

He walked out the door of the ridiculously large, pristine, absolutely opulent house and down the steps from the front porch, where he spotted his partner jogging towards him, listening to her iPod, wearing nothing but a sports bra and leggings.

How was a man supposed to cope with that? Really?

'Hey,' he said as she approached.

'Good morning, sleepy-head,' she replied with a smile, and inwardly he rolled his eyes, knowing that she had to find some way to subtly jab at him – usually he was the one up at the crack of dawn. She paused to throw him the paper that had been dropped at the bottom of the stairs.

He moved forwards. 'Thought you were going to wake me up.'

'I was going to, but then you were doing that cute little twitchy thing with your nose.' Clearly, she was still full of energy after her run – she didn't once stop moving throughout that entire sentence.

'I tend to do that when I'm happy,' Deeks admitted, taking a sip of coffee. Hint, hint: she made him happy.

'Aw.' She still hadn't stopped moving. 'You eat?'

'Uh uh,' he said, indicating the negative as he took another mouthful of coffee. Almost completely awake now.

'Well, I'm starving. Go make your wife some pancakes.' She moved forwards, and before he knew it, she was right next to him, pressing a kiss against his cheek. Grandstanding for the crowds.

Lazily, he swiped at her ridiculously cute ass with the paper, to which she replied with an 'Ow!'

'Get in there,' Deeks said, his lazy Californian drawl prominent.

She laughed, and he followed her into the house.

'Just another day, right?' she said, plucking the earphones from her ears.

'Right.' He gave her a smile and they moved in their separate ways.

Day 15

Deeks let out a soft, contented sigh, tightening his arms around a bundle that finally smelt right – sunshine and gunpowder. Without having an opportunity to fire her gun, she'd lost her gunpowder smell, and that was what made her different; lots of girls smelt like sunshine. Only Kensi smelt like sunshine and gunpowder. It was one of the many things that made her special.

Kensi hummed contentedly. 'We shouldn't have done this.'

'Done what? Ended up sleeping in the same bed? We didn't even… do it, Kens,' Deeks assured her. 'We haven't done anything wrong.'

'It's unprofessional.'

'Well, yes, it's terribly unprofessional, but it's not wrong,' Deeks assuaged her uneasy conscience.

Kensi rolled out of his arms and lay on her back, facing the ceiling of his bedroom. 'I don't even know why I came here.'

'Maybe because it was one in the morning and neither of us could sleep, and we both knew why,' Deeks told her, rolling onto his side so that faced her.

Kensi sighed at the roof. 'Don't read too much into it, Deeks. We'd had our covers blown and been held at gunpoint. It's natural to be protective of your partner, let alone someone who you've been saying is your spouse.'

Deeks paused before flopping onto his back as well and holding his left hand up. 'I'm still wearing my ring.'

Absently, Kensi touching her left ring finger. 'Me too.'

'I forgot that I was wearing it.'

'Me too.' She began to twist the gold band around her finger. 'I guess Hetty forgot to ask for it back last night.'

'Hetty was too busy asking why I'd arrested Alex with-' and here he affected a thick Russian accent- 'a decadent American sex toy.' He chuckled and returned to his normal drawl. 'I told her I'd forgotten to pack my real handcuffs.'

'It still raises the question as to why you'd taken those ones from Brett and Polina,' Kensi said, laughing softly.

'You mean Ana and Christian Grey?' Deeks corrected.

Kensi shuddered. 'Please don't say that. It just makes it worse. And you're avoiding my question.'

Deeks shrugged. 'Evidence?'

'Of what? They hadn't done anything,' Kensi laughed.

'Okay, truth?'

'Truth would be good,' Kensi said.

'I didn't take them. I found them when I put my jacket on outside their house. I think Polina put them there when she took my jacket from me when we first got there.'

'I have to agree, it did seem like Polina really did like you,' Kensi admitted.

'Not as much as you, my sugarbear.' He paused for a moment before continuing. 'You remembered what I was wearing.'

'I thought you'd forgotten what I'd been wearing.' There was a quiver in her voice that hadn't been there before.

'Are you kidding? Every time I meet a new woman, I automatically compare what she's wearing to what you were wearing that day, and hands down you win when it comes to absolute and utter hotness.'

Kensi let out a soft laugh. 'Thanks, I think.'

'Bed-head curls? Amazing. And then you add in the fact that it's your hair. Mind-blowing.'

Kensi blushed, glad that he wasn't looking at her.

'Speaking of avoiding questions…' Deeks started.

She blushed harder, completely aware of what he was referring to. 'Cover kiss, Deeks. I told you – don't read anything into it.'

'You could've done anything to explain why we were there,' Deeks said softly. '"Oh, I dropped some jewellery",' he mimicked her tone. '"Oh, this is interesting. Where did you get it?" Instead, you kissed me. Excuse me for wondering why you chose that option out of all the others.'

Kensi sighed softly before saying, 'Maybe it was because I wanted to. You ever think about that?'

'Think, no. Hope? Yes.'

Kensi looked away, out the window. 'You're a pretty good kisser. You know, considering it took you a few seconds to actually react.'

'You're a very good kisser. We could kiss again, so I could redeem myself, if you like.'

Kensi laughed at him, and turned so that she could see the familiar flirty sparkle in his eye. 'That was a onetime deal, Deeks. I still can't believe you remembered what I was wearing.'

'Of course I'd remember what you were wearing,' Deeks admonished her. 'That was the day my world turned on its head.'

She sighed before sitting up and running a hand over her bed-head hair. 'I should go. I need to shower and change.'

'I have a shower here,' Deeks said blithely.

Kensi waited for a moment before gaping at him. 'What, no punch line?'

'You've got clothes in your car.'

'I need to make sure my place is still standing, Deeks.'

He sighed softly. 'Alright, then. Let me make you breakfast first.'

Kensi leaned against the bedhead. 'You gonna go surfing?'

'I dunno,' Deeks said lightly.

Kensi sighed before getting out of bed, her feet making a soft thud as she slid to the floor. 'Deeks, we need to go back to normal… or, at least, what counts as normal for us. And that means that you're gonna go surfing, and I'm gonna go home, shower, change and have coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, and you're gonna turn up to work late, and the guys are gonna tease you about spending two weeks with me having absolutely no good influence on you.' She picked up the hoodie on the end of the bed and put it on before walking over to his side of the bed and kissing his cheek. 'Good morning, Deeks.'

'Good morning, sunshine,' he said, watching her go. He lay there for a few moments, listening as she put on her shoes, gathered her things and locked the front door on the way out. He got up and began to gather his surfing things.

He then paused, and wondered aloud, 'Wasn't that my hoodie that she was wearing?'

::

Yikes. It's been a long time since I last posted. Sorry about that, but I'm in my last year of high school and I'm hellishly busy – I get rid of one assignment and receive notifications for two more. I've been writing this for almost a year now, as you can probably tell – this is a fic for an episode from season 3! Not that that episode doesn't deserve it – almost the best Densi episode ever. I say almost because, well, we all know what happened in "Descent". Heck, it hasn't aired in Australia, and I know what happens.

Please review, let me know what you think. I dearly value any and all feedback.

XD PurpleHipposRock