A/N: Speculative story following season 9 finale episodes, A Line in the Sand and Ninguna Salida. Picks up once the team is back in the U.S. This is a team/Densi fic, so expect a good deal of angst, some romance, humor, and drama.

This fic is rated T overall, however there are portions that will be in M territory, including the first bit of this chapter. I will warn as I go

*First two paragraphs are rated M*

Armistice

His left hand pulled her hips closer, his own hips never stilling in their steady, rolling pace while his other hand lifted her leg up at an impossibly high angle. Kensi's breath hissed out in a rush of air. On the next thrust she moved her hips in time with Deeks', intent on eliciting the same reaction from him. He moaned quietly and dropped his head on her shoulder for a moment.

"One of these days you are going to kill me, you know that right?" he said in between short intakes of breath. Kensi grinned and rubbed his back for a few seconds before she hooked her leg around his hip again, urging him on with a few short thrusts. Deeks lifted his head, his eyes glinting with desire as he cupped a hand around the back of Kensi's head and sealed his mouth to hers. Her stomach tightened in anticipation as Deeks began moving again in earnest.

Kensi's eyes popped open suddenly, her body thrumming with desire, little spasms tightening her core, and a general sense of confusion blurring her mind. She took in a few steadying breaths to clear her sleep-hazed brain. She glanced to the right and suddenly reality came rushing back as she took in Deeks' sleeping form.

He was on his back, his broken arm propped up on a pillow and his hair obscuring the upper half of his face. The thin cotton sheet they used during the summer was pulled up to his mid-chest.

Kensi propped herself up on her elbows, leaning over slightly to assure herself Deeks wasn't in any distress. He slept on peacefully, a small crease between his eyebrows the only sign that he might be in pain.

She flopped back on her back with a sigh. Normally, she might be worried that she'd wake Deeks but she knew from the last few weeks that the pain meds he was taking would keep him out for a good six hours.

Turning on her side, Kensi studied the side of his head. It was too dark to really see details in the faint glow of moonlight filtering through the drapes, but Kensi didn't need it to know exactly where a row of stitches marched across his hairline or that his torso was still bruised and swollen from four broken ribs. Her fingers twitched as she resisted the urge to run her fingers through his hair, caress his still healing skin.

It had been terrifying when she'd first gained consciousness in Mexico to find Deeks unresponsive and his face coated in blood.

She shuddered at the memory, reminding her of the previous night's dream. The last week or so she'd invariably woken up in the middle of the night in either a state of extreme arousal or panic. If she wasn't dreaming about doing indecent things with Deeks, then he was bleeding in the middle of a dusty road. That was, if she was actually able to free him from the SUV before he was consumed by flames.

It was enough to temper any lingering feelings of desire for the moment and make her infinitely glad that she was merely left frustrated this time around. The last nightmare had her fighting back silent tears and checking to make sure Deeks was actually beside her and not dead.

Reaching to the side, Kensi grabbed her watch and sighed as she noted it was ten after five. Based on the last few nights' experience, she doubted she would fall asleep again. Even so, she rolled back onto her side and silently watched the steady rise and fall of Deeks' chest as he slept.

Deeks wandered into the kitchen at 7:15 as Kensi was removing a mostly char-free piece of bacon from the skillet. Well, Kensi amended, shuffled was a slightly more apt description. His healing ribs left him in a nearly constant hunched position when he was upright and made walking uncomfortable.

He'd dressed in a dark blue tee and form-fitting jeans which were a particular favorite of Kensi's and his hair clung to his jaw and upper neck from a recent shower. It was good to see him in something other than sweats and hoodies, his favored outfit since leaving the hospital.

She glanced back in the pan briefly, double checking that the bacon hadn't blackened when she wasn't looking and then turned her attention back to Deeks.

"Hey baby, how'd you sleep?" she asked, watching as Deeks sank into a kitchen chair and then absentmindedly adjusted the strap on the sling that kept his broken arm immobile.

"Ok, I guess," he answered with a shrug, followed by an immediate wince. Kensi frowned in sympathy as he gingerly placed his hand to his side. "God, I keep forgetting how much broken ribs suck," he breathed out. Keeping his eyes closed, Deeks sucked in several shallow breaths in an attempt to temper the pain.

Kensi watched him surreptitiously, unable to completely hide her concern. She'd had broken or bruised ribs before and she knew that 'sucks' didn't begin to cover how painful they could be.

"Are you ok?" Kensi asked in a carefully measured tone once Deeks' features had smoothed out, indicating the worst of the discomfort had passed.

"Yeah, I think it's actually getting better," Deeks said. Kensi just barely managed to hold back an eye roll. She somehow sincerely doubted that Deeks' ribs hurt any less than they had three days ago when he'd choked on a piece of apple and nearly passed out from the pain.

Instead, she focused on removing the last piece of bacon from the pan and started slicing a bowl of strawberries to go with the oatmeal waiting on the back of the stove. She still wasn't a great cook, hell she was still pretty terrible, but in the last few weeks she'd been forced to call on the combined forces of her mom and Deeks' verbal directions and a copy of Cooking for Dummies or succumb to starvation.

It definitely was still way outside her comfort zone, but Kensi couldn't help but feel just a little proud that she'd managed to feed both herself and Deeks without poisoning either one of them.

Finishing off the last strawberry with a series of slow, deliberate slices, Kensi glanced back at Deeks who was staring pensively at the wall.

"Are you excited about your first day back?" she asked. Hetty had agreed to let Deeks come back to war in a very limited capacity and with the understanding that he was to keep himself away from any and all danger or feel the tiny woman's wrath.

"I don't know if excited is the right word," he answered with a frown. "More like relieved. At least I'll be doing something useful, even if it is just cleaning out Cold War era files."

"You know, no one's expecting you to be back yet, right?" Kensi said, finally voicing a concern that had been niggling at her since Deeks had told her the good news. Maybe it was hypocritical, given her own propensity to ignore doctor's suggestions, but she couldn't help but want Deeks to stay home and heal for as long as possible.

"Sam's supposed to be out another two weeks at least," she reminded him.

"Yeah, and Sam also got shot in the leg, tore open his stitches and lost two pints of blood," Deeks argued in what could only be described as a dismissive tone. "I'll be fine,"

"Ok," Kensi said, realizing that arguing wasn't going to do any good. She knew Deeks was getting antsy, particularly when he had to watch her leave every day while he was stuck at home. She continued fixing their meal in silence, placing a handful of strawberries on top of each bowl of oatmeal and had just started pouring coffee into mugs when Deeks spoke up again,

"There is something I think we should talk about before we go it today," he started. Something in his voice made Kensi turn around mid-pour. Deeks sucked in a shallow breath, running a hand through his hair that disrupted his barely dry curls. When it became obvious that Kensi wasn't going to provide any type of reprieve, he cleared his throat and continued.

"Before we left for Mexico" Kensi felt her heart plummet, intuitively knowing where Deeks was headed. "Um, we never got a chance to really deal with what we talked about in the parking garage and since we got back, well, we've kind of been acting like nothing happened, but I think we should–"

"No." Kensi said definitively, cutting Deeks short and drawing a surprised look from him. He blinked a couple time and then seemed to gather himself.

"Baby, we can't just pretend it didn't happen," he said, his expression pleading. Kensi braced her hands against the edge of the counter, lowering her head for a second as she worked to regulate her suddenly racing heart.

"I didn't say that we should ignore it, but I do not want to talk about this now," she said firmly and tightly.

"Kens–" Deeks protested and she knew he was about to say something perfectly sensible and logical. She pushed herself off the counter almost violently, propelling her body forward until she stood just a few inches away from Deeks. Cupping his chin in her hand, Kensi leaned down and kissed the surprised look from his mouth.

"We will, but not today," she repeated, easing her lips from a slightly breathless Deeks. "Ok?"

Kensi pulled back just enough to see Deeks' expression switch from surprised pleasure to confusion, then annoyance and finally smooth out into what appeared to be understanding. She had no idea what conclusion he'd come to; if she was being honest, she wasn't entirely sure why she was putting this conversation off herself. All she knew was the thought of losing the relative peace of the last few weeks was terrifying.

"Ok, we'll wait," Deeks said at last. "For now."

"Did we check Tijuana yet?"

"Why the hell would she go to Tijuana?"

"It's relatively close by, has all the comforts of a modern city but also the appeal of being foreign city. Plus, once you leave the resort areas, there's plenty of places to hide out just in case you've got the federal government looking for you."

"G, I promise you, Mosley is not hiding out in Tijuana," Sam said, sounding remarkably annoyed for someone who'd been on sick leave for three weeks." Kensi shared a brief grin with Deeks who was walking beside. Callen and Sam had obviously missed their grand entrance amidst all the bickering.

"Hey man, I thought you were out for another week or so," Deeks greeted Sam, walking between the four desks. Kensi followed a little more slowly, taking a moment to set down her and Deeks' bags. She noticed Deeks unconsciously stood a little taller as he stopped in front of Sam's desk despite how much it must have strained his ribs and she shook her head at his stubbornness.

"Deeks, good to see you!" Sam said happily as he grabbed his crutches and expertly maneuvered himself to his feet. He carefully wrapped an arm around Deeks' shoulders, patting him on the back with a little less force than usual. Callen stood with a lot less effort than his partner and reached for Deeks' uninjured hand, still not one for overt demonstrations of affection.

"You look a lot better than you did the last time I saw you," Callen said by way of greeting and Kensi snorted out a surprised laugh while Sam made an exasperated noise.

"That's a real compliment, last time you saw him his entire face was covered in blood," Sam said derisively.

"And he looks better now!" Callen explained defensively, gesturing to Deeks to demonstrate his point. Deeks did look better, at least outwardly; he'd made a point of combing his hair to cover any visible stitches and his clothes covered any remaining bruises and cuts. Still, as Sam and Callen continued to observe him, Kensi knew they hadn't missed his stiff posture or careful movements any more than she had.

"As much as I'm loving all this scrutiny, you never answered my question, Sam," Deeks said, turning the attention away from him and back to Sam, who had given in and lowered himself to his chair once more, carefully extending his left leg in front of him. He'd even gone so far as to slip a spare box of files under his desk to use as a leg rest.

"I'm not back yet," Sam answered tersely.

"You look back," Callen offered helpfully.

"I told you," Sam said in a very pointed voice that made Kensi think he'd already had this particular conversation with his partner, "I'm not back, I'm just consulting."

"Uh-huh." Deeks chuckled, clearly enjoying Sam's exasperation and Kensi grinned at the wonderful normalcy of it all.

"Anyway…I don't know how much Kensi told you, but we've been trying to locate Mosley for the last two weeks. And by we, I mean Kensi and Callen have been helping Eric and Nell sift through security footage and flagged passports," Sam said.

"Did Mosley really leave a note taking responsibility for our little adventure in Mexico?" Deeks asked with a note of incredulity.

"Yes, she gave a very detailed account of her actions, explained why she felt the need to threaten and/or fire nearly every member of this team and said she was 'sorry' but the benefits outweighed the means," Callen said. "Her words, not mine. With that and a few interviews with DOJ, we were cleared from any responsibility. Probably didn't hurt that Hetty had SECNAV on speed dial."

"Must have been some letter," Deeks said darkly.

I think Hetty had it laminated if you want to take a look."

"I'm good," he said with a look of distaste. There was a moment of awkward silence as Callen obviously realized Deeks didn't find Mosley or her note remotely amusing.

"Well, it's good to see you back, even if it is with restrictions," Sam said with deliberate casualness. Behind Deeks, Kensi caught his eye and nodded gratefully.

"I'm guessing the whole Tijuana debate means you haven't made a lot of progress," Deeks said dryly, plucking an open file from Sam's desk. He paged through it quickly, keeping it secure between his good hand and his chest, his eyebrows rising as he read. "Well, she definitely isn't stupid, I'll give her that." He tossed the file back on the desk, wobbling slightly as he overbalanced. Sam hooked one of his crutches on Deeks' desk chair and shoved it towards him.

"Here, sit down before you fall on your face," he instructed dispassionately. Deeks took his advice and gingerly sat down, unable to completely hide a wince.

"Your ribs still hurt?"

"Only when I laugh or cough. Or breathe," Deek answered with a self-deprecating smirk. "Don't worry, though. You give me a couple more days and I'll be ready to chase down bad guys all day."

"You know you guys can take as much time as you need, right?" Kensi asked with an edge she couldn't quite mask. Deeks and Sam men looked at each other and then down at themselves as if to question why they would possibly need more time to recuperate.

"We're fine," Sam said, earning a nod from Deeks.

"Neither of you can stand for more than five minutes," Callen pointed out, earning himself twin looks of betrayal.

"What Callen's trying to say is, we want both of you here, we would love to have our partners back, but not at the risk of your health."

"Amen to that," Nell said, coming up behind Kensi, closely followed by Eric. She walked over to Sam and Deeks, wrapping each of them in a hug. Kensi saw her whisper something to Deeks that she couldn't quite hear to which Deeks smiled gently and nodded. "It's so good to see you guys," she added, straightening up.

"Really good," Eric echoed. "It's been kind of lonely the last few weeks."

"So you're saying that we're not good company?" Callen asked archly.

"No, no it's just not as…cheerful, shall we say when Sam and Deeks aren't here," Eric said.

"That does not sound better."

Actually, the reason we came down in the first place," Nell interrupted, "was to tell you that we think we have a lead on Mosley."

A/N: I intend to make this a multi-chapter fic, but I'm notoriously bad at follow through, so if anyone would like to give me a push now and then that would be great.

And yes, I am playing fast and loose with the possible repercussions of the Mexico Incident for the moment.