Title: The Call

Author: annaliesegrace

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own them. Stunning, I know.

Summary: Four years after refusing to do so, Deeks makes that call to Ray.

AN: This is a one shot of pure fluff, nothing more, and nothing less. But I hope you enjoy it anyway and would love to hear your thoughts with a review because I usually dont do fics that bounce around in time this much. Additionally, Ray's last spoken line in the fic is a HUGE shoutout to one of the best shows on TV right now. Answer in the notes at the bottom.

On with the show…

November 2015

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded wary, unsure.

"Ray? Its, uh, it's Marty, man."

"Marty!" The tone instantly changed to one of excitement. "Holy shit, man. How long has it been?"

In LA, Deeks scratched the back of his head and sat up in the dining room chair, nervous. "I don't know… Right after Jenna had the baby."

"Yeah, yeah. Sounds right."

"Natalie, right?" Deeks asked, fairly sure he had his friends daughters name right.

"Yeah, Natalie. She's been incredible, Marty. Best thing that ever happened to me. Turns four in December."

"Wow…four years…" Deeks voice was distant, which his friend picked up on instantly.

"What's up, Marty? Everything ok?"

Now a smile crossed his face and he looked around the empty house, which wouldn't stay that way long. "Yeah…I…" Deeks paused; he really didn't think that this conversation would be so…hard.

Deeks could almost hear the smirk on Ray's face before the words came through the phone. "How's Wikipedia?"

"Kensi…" he paused and let out a loud breath. Just dive in, Marty. "Kensi's pregnant."

There was a long silence on the phone and just as Deeks was about to check to make sure his friend was still there, he spoke, excitement clear. "No shit? Well, congratulations Marty!"

"Why do you assume it's mine?" Deeks asked, his tone joking.

"Are you kidding? I called it four years ago, man."

"Yeah, yeah…rub it in."

"When I told you I wanted you to call, I certainly wasn't expecting this."

Deeks ran a hand over his mouth, and thought back to the day that changed their lives. "Us either…"

July 5th, 2015

Walking into his apartment, he dropped his gym and laptop bags in the foyer, locking the door behind him. With singular focus he headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, opening a beer and downing half of it before he even closed the door.

Letting out a happy "ahhhhh", Deeks looked out across his breakfast bar and nearly dropped his beer at the sight of a body sleeping on his couch.

Specifically the body of his partner, curled up with a blanket over her legs.

He hadn't expected her tonight; at least he couldn't remember her mentioning coming over. But there she was, snoring lightly. Downing the rest of the beer, Deeks walked into the living room and crouched next to her, slowly stroking her hair.

That's when he realized she looked pale and there appeared to be tear tracks running down her cheeks.

As he was debating the merits of waking his sleeping partner – an experience he knew was never pleasant, she solved the problem for him by suddenly snapping her eyes open and looking at him a long moment with an indescribable expression.

"Deeks, you're home."

"Well, it is my place. I was bound to come here eventually."

"Hilarious," she deadpanned and rubbed her eyes gently as she sat up.

"You ok? You look…tired." A sudden expression of fear crossed her face and Deeks nearly recoiled from it. "Kensi?"

"We never talked about this…" she muttered.

"About what? What is going on?"

She looked him in the eyes. "Deeks…I'm pregnant."

And his whole world stopped.

"She was six weeks along when we found out. We still had our own places – though she spent most of her time at mine, only vaguely discussing living together, then…"

"Everything went sideways."

"Little bit," Deeks practically snorted. "It took a good week for it just to sink in, but after that...it's like a second chance to do it right, you know?"

"Oh, I know. When's she due?"

"Middle of February."

"She's ok?"

"Great actually, she was sick a lot at first, but other than that it's been uneventful."

"Good…" the other man paused, clearly considering something. "How did Hetty take it? And the other guys…Callen and…Sam?"

"Well, you know me…"

July 22nd 2015

"We have to tell her." Kensi admonished while watching Deeks grill hamburgers on his patio, suddenly realizing when her stomach rolled that she wouldn't actually be able to eat them. Dammit. Morning sickness (that was a misnomer if she ever heard it, she was sick from the time she got up until she went to bed) had rolled in swiftly and vigorously the last week.

"You aren't eating these, are you?" he asked and she realized that she must have made the face she was thinking.

"Probably not," she mumbled unhappily. This was ridiculous; if she didn't feel like throwing up (thankfully she hadn't actually done it) then the food she was able to force down was unappetizing at best. So far her diet had consisted of plain cereal, plain bagels and crackers. Donuts were even food non-grata since now the smell of the grease they were cooked in turned her stomach. Her OB had assured her it was completely normal but Kensi wasn't convinced she wasn't starving the baby.

"We should do it tomorrow," she stated simply, unequivocally. "Look, I probably shouldn't be out in the field. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's against rules. We've been lucky there hasn't been a case that's required field work the last two weeks; but that luck is bound to run out…quick."

"I know."

Walking into the kitchen she pulled out a cereal bowl and poured Cheerios into it while he brought the hamburgers inside. Again, her stomach rolled and she pressed down the nausea.

"Then what's the problem?" she asked while pouring the milk then quickly departed the kitchen.

"Hetty isn't the problem…Sam and Callen are."

One eyebrow rose at him. "You're worried about Sam and Callen?"

"Terrified is probably a better word."

"Deeks! What…"

"Look…they weren't all that thrilled when they found out we were sleeping together. I got the talk the next day." She grinned at him and he sighed. "Not funny, not at all, they are scary dudes."

"Terrifying…" she said with a mocking tone and scooped more cereal into her mouth to keep from laughing.

"What do you think they are gonna do when they find out I knocked you up-"

"Knocked me up? What year is this?"

"- we aren't even living together, Kensi. Sure, we talked about it, but that's it."

Standing, she placed the bowl on the breakfast bar and stood in front of him, her hands on his face. "It's going to be fine. I promise. And if Sam or Callen try anything…I'll protect you."

With that she smacked his chest lightly and turned away.

"Mocker!" he called out as she plopped down on the living room couch, laughing.

"Will you stop?" she hissed as they entered the Mission the next morning.

"I'm nervous, ok?"

"Oh, good grief, Deeks," she mumbled and took a long drink of her water.

Deeks looked around the corner and spied the Operations Manager sitting at her desk, reading reports. Taking a deep breath, he glanced back at her. "Now?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

"You sure are calm about this."

"That's because I'm not worried. You're doing enough of that for both of us."

Approaching the small woman's desk, Kensi noted that Deeks looked like HE was the one about to throw up. "Just…let me talk."

Her partner merely nodded.

"Hetty, do you have a minute?" Kensi asked and the other woman held out her hand to the two chairs in front of the ornate desk, they sat almost simultaneously.

"Yes, Ms Blye?"

Kensi leaned forward, keeping her voice low. "Hetty, I…we, need to tell you something." She spared a glance at her partner, who suddenly seemed to have calmed down. "I'm pregnant."

Kensi was sure Hetty Lang had been surprised only a handful of times in her life, but surprise was certainly the expression that settled on her face as she looked at the pair.

"Well, this is happy news, yes?"

"Very," Deeks responded first, grabbing Kensi's hand and she nodded in agreement.

"Then congratulations to the both of you."

"Thank you…" Kensi all but whispered, relief washing over her – though she couldn't remember being anxious in the first place.

"Obviously Ms Blye there will be no more field work for you. And once you start showing, interviews are out as well."

"Of course."

"Have you told your team lead?"

Now Deeks scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, no."

Kensi let out a loud sigh and it was clear to the older woman that this was a problem – for one of them at least. Making a quick decision, she stood, indicating for the two to follow, which they did without question. "Meet me in OPS in two minutes.

Two minutes later Hetty was entering the room, with Callen and Sam close behind. Nell and Eric had already been in the tech center when Kensi and Deeks arrived and while they waited in silence with the pair, shared looks of confusion. The partner's looked…happy. Ridiculously happy.

Callen looked vaguely surprised to see Kensi and Deeks already there and said as much. "Is there a case I don't know about?"

"No," she said simply and clapped her hands together before speaking. "As of today, Ms Blye will no longer be available for field work as she is expecting."

Complete silence filled the room for several seconds while the group deciphered the words and processed them. Callen eventually made the first move, wrapping Kensi up in a warm hug, kissing her temple. "Congratulations Kens, I'm happy for you."

She returned the hug and spoke into his ear. "Thanks, G."

Releasing her, he turned to Deeks and held out a hand. "You too, Deeks."

"Thanks, man."

Each member took their turns with congratulations and well wishes and Deeks smiled when Kensi took his hand and squeezed it gently.

Ray laughed on the other end of the phone. "No worries, right?" He knew it was typical Deeks to jump to worrying about something before it happened.

"Yeah, no worries, they were all thrilled. And Kensi has learned a lot being in the tech center. I think she could possibly hack my twitter account by now. Actually, she might be able to hack Twitter."

"So, I heard the ending…how did it start?"

"What start? Me and Kens?"

"What else, idiot?"

"Well, we sorta did things…backward."

"Why does that not surprise me? You two really can't do anything normally, can you?"

"You wanna hear the story or not?"

"You bet…"

January 2012

"Why are you so…ugh!" she hissed at him.

"Why am I so what?"

"Annoying!" she finally spit out as they approached the mat in the middle of the gym. It was extremely late, there was no one left in the Mission but them, but Kensi needed to get out some frustration, and Deeks had agreed to be her punching bag of sorts.

Instead of taking offense, he smiled at her broadly. "Don't you mean charming?"

"I swear to God, Deeks, I'm going to knock that stupid expression right off your face."

"Try…" he said and took up a fighting stance in front of her. His partner's eye's narrowed dangerously at him but he continued to grin like an idiot. Two years ago he never would have baited her, mostly out of fear for his own safety, but in the last year he had trained with the best so his skills had significantly improved.

Besides, after the last case he knew she needed to let off steam. They had tried so hard to save the kidnapped commander, but had failed by mere hours. And for reasons he was unclear about, this case sent her off her axis a little. Deeks knew that Hetty knew why, but the manager was never one to share other's secrets.

She came out swinging hard, but he ducked just as fast. And for the next twenty minutes they attacked, dodged and occasionally landed a blow on the other person (there were rules, no face shots and nothing below the belt except legs). He could tell she was losing steam quickly and took advantage, sweeping her legs out from under her. Unfortunately she grabbed hold of his sweaty shirt and pulled him down on top of her.

They landed and both let out grunts as he braced himself as best he could to keep himself from head butting her, leaving a few inches between their faces. Deeks stared at his partner a long moment.

"What's up with you?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied tersely and tried to push him off her, but having the advantage that he was laying on top and heavier, he didn't move.

"Something…" he said and was suddenly aware of how close they actually were, torsos pressed together, his hands on either side of her head, faces inches apart. They had suppressed the physical attraction between them many, many times in the past almost two years, but it seemed that recently the tension had escalated. Every time she touched him he wanted to jump out of his skin, every time they verbally sparred he felt like pushing her against the wall and having his way with her, and lately the sparring was more on then off. But them being them, they ignored the tension which only succeeded making the heat between them rise.

But here, in the empty gym, their sweaty bodies pressed together, the electricity between them growing exponentially, Deeks knew he was done, because her body felt too good beneath him, her skin - slicked with sweat - was too enticing and her slightly parted lips were calling to him.

"Kensi…" he whispered dangerously, moving his head fractionally closer to hers.

"Deeks…" her voice was plaintive, unsure, but she had stopped trying to push him off.

"Kensi…" he said one more time and closed the space between them.

It didn't take long for it to get heated, their kisses becoming desperate, her arms moving up and down under his shirt across the skin of his back, scratching occasionally.

When his lips moved to her neck and sucked the skin there gently, she arched into him and let out a soft moan.

As she wiggled beneath him as he continued kissing the soft skin of her neck and shoulders, Deeks felt himself reacting strongly and wondered if she would stop this, because God knows he wasn't capable.

When her hands slid under the waistband of his nylon shorts he knew she wouldn't. And suddenly he was very aware that they were halfway to having sex in the gym.

"Camera's?" he mumbled against the top of her breast left exposed by her tank top.

"What?" she asked as she arched, pressing her center against him and moaning happily at the friction.

"Are there camera's in the gym?"

"What?" The fog in her brain created by their actions cleared slowly and she smiled at the question. "Yes."

Against his body's wishes, he stopped and raised himself, looking at her. Her face was flushed with desire and want and her hands were doing very naughty things under his shorts, which was insanely distracting.

Reaching up she licked his neck and smiled deviously. "They only run 7 am to 7 pm so people can record their workouts. You have to manually turn them on in OPS after that. You should know that."

"Sweet," he mumbled and buried his face in her neck.

Deeks left out some of the juicier details in his retelling to his friend, keeping those as private moments.

"You had sex for the first time at NCIS?"

Again, Deeks scratched the back of his head, now it seemed supremely stupid but then…well, there wasn't much thinking then. "Yeah…"

"HA! I love it. What happened after that?"

"We really didn't talk much about it; instead we became much closer friends – no benefits. I was happy with that, you know? Then I got promoted…sort of."

August 2012

Marty Deeks stared at the papers in front of him one last time before signing and handing them over to Hetty Lang. The woman took them with a small smile and placed them on her desk.

"Congratulations Detective, excuse me…Agent Deeks."

"Thanks," he said with a broad grin and turned to find his partner practically launching herself into his waiting arms. After a work appropriate hug, he released her and turned to the two other men, shaking their hands firmly.

"Congrats, Deeks, you are officially one of us," Callen said with a genuine smile.

"I think this calls for drinks, don't you?" Sam asked while squeezing his shoulder.

"I think so," Deeks said and clapped his hands together, glancing at Kensi. Since their encounter in the gym eight months ago, they had become closer, not on a physical level, they had not slept together again since. But their friendship had grown more than even they expected, they were probably closer then Sam and Callen. They spent weekends together, he tried to teach her to surf (she was terrible at it, a fact he enjoyed reminding her of), she helped him hone his fighting skills (he was getting much better, which she was loathe to admit) when they weren't just enjoying each other's quiet company. Sleeping together had freed them from the sexual tension, allowing them a closer connection.

It wasn't long before the four agents and both techs were seated in a large booth at a small pub downtown. Kensi was on one end, with Deeks seated next to her, Callen directly across from her, Sam next to him and the two techs between the partners. Callen kept buying rounds and before long, Kensi was feeling that lightheaded sensation that meant she was pleasantly buzzed, and adventurous.

While the other members of the team chatted, she moved her left hand onto Deeks' leg, high on his thigh. She watched with amusement as he thickly swallowed a mouthful of beer and looked at her. There was something in his eyes that emboldened her even more and she moved her hand up slowly while rotating it toward the inside of his leg.

Deeks nearly jumped as her hand came within an inch of his crotch.

"You ok, Deeks?" Callen asked when he noticed the newly-minted agent twitch suddenly.

Kensi merely smiled into her beer bottle, her hand still firmly on his leg, dangerously close.

"Fine," he squeaked out. "Great."

Callen gave him a weird look and shrugged.

That's when her hand moved the last inch and settled firmly in his lap, the tips of her fingers caressing where they shouldn't in a public place.

Setting his beer down hard, his next words were spit out rapid fire. "You know, don't want to start my first day as an official NCIS agent on the wrong foot, probably should head home. Get a good night sleep." Her hand squeezed. "Really, really good night sleep."

Callen glanced at his watch. "Yeah, I'm calling it a night as well. Congratulations again, Deeks."

"Thanks guys, really."

"You good to drive?" Sam asked.

"I'll catch a cab," Deeks responded quickly.

"Can I share one with you?" Kensi asked with a devilish expression.

"You bet…ready?"

The partners quickly stood and bid the table farewell, knowing the rest of the team would be heading out shortly. It was easy to catch a cab downtown during prime bar hours so the two were heading to Kensi's apartment in no time.

The alcohol flowing through her system added with her normal daring nature spurred Kensi to lean over and kiss her partner's neck gently at first, then more feverishly, sucking and licking as she sat sideways and slipped one leg between his.

Deeks moaned as her hand deftly undid several buttons on his plaid shirt and slipped under the fabric, raking her fingernails across his chest.

He cupped her behind, keeping her firmly pressed against his side. "What is with you and inappropriate places?"

She merely grinned at him and sat up suddenly, telling the cabbie to reverse direction, giving him Deeks' address.

By the time they made the fifteen minute ride to his place, Kensi was sure the cabbie had gotten quite a show and therefore left him a large tip in compensation. They barely made it to his door with their clothes still on, which were hurriedly discarded in his living room as they made their way to the bedroom.

"After that we were…inseparable. On the job and off. Hetty and the guys knew by the end of the year, but no one ever said anything outright."

"That's…backwards all right," Ray commented with a smile.

"We know."

"You guys know what you're having?"

"Nope, don't want to."

"Good on you. How's a baby going to fit in with NCIS? There some early training program?" Ray half joked, knowing that the nature of their jobs was not exactly kid friendly.

Deeks laughed before blowing out a long breath. "Well, I haven't talked to Kensi yet, but I'm thinking about taking a year off, staying home."

"Wow, that's impressive coming from the guy who's wanted to be a cop since he was ten."

Deeks considered that a long moment. "For a long time I defined myself as a cop, I couldn't separate regular Marty from cop Marty. And that worked, because it made me good at what I did. But you know what, I'm gonna be a Dad and that means more to me then being a cop ever did. Besides, Kensi would go crazy at home; she needs to get out those violent tendencies of hers at work."

A noise in the background got Rays attention. "Crap, sorry Marty, I gotta run. Keep in touch you SOB, let me know how it goes."

"Will do, tell Jenna I said hi and I miss you guys."

"Miss you too." Just as Deeks started to hang up the phone, Ray's voice got his attention again. "Hey, Marty?"

"Yeah?"

"Be a better man than your father."

"That I can do."

February 13th 2016, 9 am

Cradling his newborn son in his arms and glancing at a sleeping Kensi, Deeks reached for his phone on the table next to him and carefully typed out a one-handed text.

It had been whirlwind couple of days. Kensi had gone into labor two days earlier at their newly-purchased home, and had spent the better part of the last thirty six hours bringing their son into the world (after which she promptly announced there would be no repeat performance of this act). As the doctor had placed a squirming, slimy baby on Kensi's chest, Deeks knew exactly what love at first sight was; this screaming person he helped make had grabbed his heart from moment one.

Completing the text, he closed his phone as Kensi woke with an expression he could only define as content on her face. Looking at the sleeping baby in his arms she smiled tiredly. "Everything ok?"

He leaned over carefully and kissed her head. "Great, go back to sleep."

"Ok, love you," she mumbled and drifted off.

"Love you," he whispered back to her sleeping form. He couldn't blame her, it had been an exhausting labor that by the thirty four hour mark the doctor had nearly been ready to call quits and roll her into surgery. Deeks was convinced it had been Kensi's sheer force of will that prevented that and delivered the baby safely and healthy an hour later.

The bundle in his arms started to squirm and smush up his face in an expression that Deeks had already realized meant a cry was coming. Swiftly he grabbed a pre-made bottle out of the bassinet and placed it into a small open mouth; it took only seconds for the baby to start sucking greedily. He made have only been seven hours old, but already the littlest Deeks had proven that his food could come from any source and he would be satisfied.

Leaning back into the extra large chair provided to fathers, Deeks smiled as his son finished off the last ounce of the meal.

His son.

Best words ever.

It was six am in North Carolina when the phone on the night table vibrated, indicating a text. Groggily Ray (now known as Kenneth Williams) picked up the device, blinking several times until his vision cleared enough to read who it was coming from. Smiling, he tapped the phone and instantly the text appeared.

James Michael Deeks

February 13th, 2 am

8 lbs even, 21 inches

Mom and baby are great

Best thing that's ever happened to me

END

Yeah, it's cute and fluffy and I do not know where it came from, I'm not usually a cute and fluffy fic writing kind of girl. So reviews are extra appreciated! I've got another idea floating around in my head but it's very…dirty. M rated dirty, PWP dirty, so I'm not sure if it will see the light of day.

Ray's line "be a better man than your father" comes from Fringe. If you aren't watching, use the summer to catch up, its fantastic.

And Kensi's morning sickness? Yeah, I lived that with both my kids for 8+ weeks each pregnancy, it was so bad I lost weight the first three months with the first and my husband kept telling me I was starving the baby (I wasn't, he went on to be a ten pounder – he made up time those last three months).