I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Sequel to "The Ballad Of Mona Lisa"

(You might like to read "The Ballad Of Mona Lisa" first; I might make a few references to it throughout the course of the story)

I don't own NCIS: LA, Panic! At The Disco or "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"

Chapter 1

'Oh, well imagine, as I'm pacing the pews of a church corridor…'

The sun shone down on a picturesque day in Los Angeles, California. The sky was the most perfect blue ever seen, and was reflected in the sparkling ocean which was dotted with surfers. It was the most perfect day for a wedding. However…

'If you don't stop walking up and down the corridor, Ben, you'll wear a path in the carpet.'

The bride sat patiently, carefully balanced on the edge of a stool, her skirts fanned out around her, her veil hoisted up around the coronet of her golden hair. Her bouquet of white lilies lay forgotten on the edge of a hall table as she wiped frustrated tears away with a lace edged hanky.

'There already is a path,' said the best man, Ben, raking a frustrated hand through his hair. 'Probably worn by hundreds of other best men,' he muttered. He stopped and pounded on the closed and locked door. 'Charlie! Come on, man!'

The bride sighed and patted away the last of her tears before called at the door, 'Listen Charlie, I'm not mad, sweetheart. You got cold feet. It happens. Darling, we don't have to do this. We can wait. We did this too soon for you. It's alright. I understand.' She sighed again and turned to Ben. 'I have regrets myself,' she murmured in an undertone. 'Are you sure that he's in there? Maybe he left, ran away.'

'Charlie isn't the type to run away, though,' the maid-of-honour, Belinda, said reflectively. 'He is a Marine. He's said it himself – Marines don't run away from anything.'

'After the last time, I wouldn't blame him for going,' Harriet sighed.

'For the last time, it wasn't your fault,' Belinda said to her. 'It was all him.'

'And his Cousin Donald, don't forget him,' Ben said quickly. 'Oh, for God's sake… Charlie!' He pounded on the door again, but the force of his pounding led the door to shake loose of its fastenings and slowly swing open.

'Oh!' Harriet stood, surprised, and followed Ben and Belinda into the room.

'Oh, my God,' Belinda whispered before dashing out of the room, one hand holding her long skirts out of her way while the other was clapped over her mouth.

Ben knelt and looked at the man sprawled inelegantly on the floor before reaching out and tapping him on the cheek. 'Charlie. Charlie. Wake up.'

Charlie didn't respond.

'Oh, what's wrong with him, Ben?' Harriet asked, clutching her bouquet nervously.

Ben reached out and placed two fingers on Charlie's neck. He waited a full minute before saying, 'Oh, Harriet.'

'No, no! Don't say it,' Harriet cried, tearing up. 'No! He can't be!'

Ben sighed. 'Call the police. Charlie's dead.'

…

Deeks practically bounced into the bullpen, a wide smile gracing his face. His blue eyes sparkled as he placed Styrofoam coffee cups onto desks before bouncing into his seat and beaming at the rest of the team, who was looking at him like he'd suddenly gone crazy.

'Hi, guys,' he beamed at them.

'Who are you and what have you done with my habitually late, lazy partner who never does anything for us?' Kensi demanded, crossing her arms and squinting at the stranger that appeared to have possessed Deeks' body.

'I'm in a good mood,' Deeks said to her, still grinning, before slurping his coffee.

'Why are you in a good mood?' Callen asked, sniffing suspiciously at the coffee that the bad Deeks impersonator had placed on his desk.

'My little sister's getting married,' Deeks beamed at them. 'I just found out this morning.'

'Congratulations. You never mentioned that you had a little sister,' Kensi said.

'You never asked.'

'I'm asking now. You have a little sister?'

'Yes, I do. Ellie's my little sister by two and a half years.'

'Wow. When's she getting married?'

'Early next year.' Deeks was smiling so brightly that it was like looking into the sun, and Kensi just managed to stop herself from squinting.

'Hang on, I thought that you had no next of kin,' Callen pointed out. 'So when exactly did this sister of yours come into the picture?'

'Oh, she lives in Australia. It's not exactly helpful for her to be named as my next as kin. When I got shot, she didn't actually find out until a week after, which was when Hetty finally found her.'

'You didn't know where your own sister was?' Sam asked sceptically.

'Well, I thought that she was in Dubai, but apparently she'd moved while I was undercover in the MMA gym, where we met when she did it and I missed her call.'

Suddenly, in the middle of Callen and Sam's interrogation of Deeks, Eric appeared on the balcony holding a six-foot, bright orange and green vuvuzela, and blew it with all the air in his lungs.

'Jesus!' Kensi yelped, jumping a foot in the air. 'You're lucky I wasn't holding my coffee just then, Eric!' she called. 'Or I'd be coming after you with my SIG.'

'Sorry, Kens,' Eric called down in apology. 'I didn't mean to surprise you.'

'Hey, what happened to my Kensi Blye, always on alert and ready for anything?' Deeks asked teasingly.

'She's too tired to be alert,' Kensi grumbled.

'We've got a case,' Eric said cheerfully.

'Of course we do,' Kensi continued to grumble as she walked out of the bullpen.

Deeks blinked and joined his partner on her climb up the spiral staircase. 'Is something wrong, Kens?'

'No. Nothing at all,' she mumbled.

'Are you sure?' he asked slowly.

'Yeah. I'm fine.'

He let out a low laugh, and before she could correct herself, he said in a low tone so that only she and he could hear, 'You only say you're fine when you're not fine.'

'I'm good.'

'Too late to correct yourself now, Princess,' Deeks said quickly. 'So…'

She remained silent beside him as they entered the Ops Centre.

'This is the part of the conversation where you tell me what's wrong,' he prompted.

She sighed. 'And this is the part of the conversation where I ignore you.' And she proceeded to do just that.

'Kensi!' he said beseechingly.

'What have you done now?' Callen asked, standing beside him.

'I don't actually know. She just suddenly decided to be grumpy.'

'Stop talking about me,' Kensi snapped at the two men, and Callen simply patted Deeks sympathetically on the shoulder before turning his attention to the briefing that Eric was giving.

'This is Staff Sergeant Charlie Gould,' Eric said, nodding to Nell who pulled up his picture. 'He was supposed to be getting married to his fiancé Harriet Mason this morning, but he never got to the altar.'

'Why?' Deeks asked.

'He died.'

'Oh.'

'Who found the body?' Callen asked.

'The fiancé, the best man Ben Harrison and the maid of honour, Belinda Messina,' Nell said.

'Okay, Densi, you take the crime scene. Sam and I will interview the witnesses.'

'Don't call us Densi,' Kensi grumbled.

'Come on, Princess,' Deeks said coaxingly. 'Let's go.'

'And don't call me Princess,' she snapped at her unwitting partner before stalking off.

Callen winced. 'Good luck with that, Deeks.'

Deeks dipped his head in a nod. 'I'll need it.'

…

Let me know what you think in a review.

XD PurpleHipposRock

P.S. Happy New Year!