Archive of Our Own

If there’s one thing Deeks had learned to count on, it was that Hetty was never wrong. Of course no one could be right one hundred percent of the time, but when Hetty told you something it was almost always true, and Deeks had never had any reason to doubt her. 

Until now. 

As he lays there, stunned, with blood dripping into his eye, his first thought is that Hetty couldn’t have been more wrong. 

“Get up, boy,” a hauntingly familiar voice said. “It’s time to come home.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric trudged up Deeks’ driveway, steeling himself for the argument he was about to get into. Tonight was the fifth time the LAPD liaison had turned down his invite to hang out in the last couple weeks, and Eric intended to find out why. He was worried that maybe Deeks was getting sick of him and trying to let him down gently. Nell had dismissed this theory, saying Deeks loves him and would never do something like that. Maybe he was seeing someone?

Distracted by going over his speech in his head, Eric didn’t notice the body in Deeks’ driveway until he was just a few feet away. It was the blood that caught his eye first, pooling around the hair that was fanned out on the ground, dampening the dark, brown strands. Dark, brown hair that he knew very well, saw every day at work. 

“Kensi!” He shouted, rushing over to his friend laid out on the ground. Her eyes were closed, her body lax. Her pulse was there but weak when he took it, and he had to almost touch his cheek to her lips to hear her breath. Quickly locating the source of the bleeding, a deep stab wound in her abdomen, he ripped off his jacket to apply pressure with his right hand and he fished through his pocket for his phone with the left. He quickly dialled 9-1-1 before putting the phone on speaker and laying it on the ground so he could apply pressure with both hands. “C’mon, Kens,” he whispered. 

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“I have a federal agent down at 547 Linnox Drive, stab wound to the abdomen. I need an ambulance immediately.” 

“Eric,” Kensi choked out, her voice so weak he could barely hear it.

“Hold on, she’s trying to talk.” He put his ear next to her mouth again to hear her better. “What is it?” he asked. “Who did this?”

“D-Deeks,” she coughed. 

“What?!”

“He took… he took Deeks.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deeks cried out in pain as the hand struck his cheek. He covered the stinging skin with his palm, as if it would shield him from more blows. He looked cautiously over to the driver’s seat, where Gordon John Brandel, also known as Deeks’ father, sat glaring out the front windshield as he sped through the empty streets of L.A. 

There were many questions running through his mind at that moment. How was his father alive? How did he know where he was? What did he want with him? He feared the answer to that last question. But there was one question that was at the forefront of his mind, the only thing he could think about while coming face to face with his long-thought-dead father, the man who still showed up in his nightmares from time to time. “Is she dead?”

He had seen Kensi’s seemingly lifeless body lying in a pool of blood as his father had dragged him to the car. He tried to reach for her, all of his instincts telling him to protect his partner, but with a fresh blow to the head he was easily subdued and had no choice but to leave Kensi behind as he was dragged away. 

“If she isn’t yet, she will be soon,” Gordon replied, with no emotion in his voice. “I didn’t want to do that, but you left me no choice. You belong to me, Marty, and no one takes what’s mine.” The possessiveness in his voice made Deeks shiver in fear and disgust. 

“You didn’t have to kill her,” his voice cracked. He couldn’t believe that she was gone. His beautiful, smart, funny, kind partner, the first person other than his mother and Ray to look at him like he was worth something, was gone. He felt his heart rip in two as the knowledge sunk in. No one would find her. No one even knew she was there. 

After several years of dancing around their feelings for each other, Deeks had finally asked her out on a proper date. He loved her, had for years, and was so excited to finally make things official. Of all the things that could have gone wrong, never would he have imagined that she would bleed out before he even got a chance to tell her how beautiful she looked in her dress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Eric!”

The man in question looked up at the sound of his team leader’s voice as the man rushed into the hospital waiting room, Sam at his side. He stood up to meet them as they ran over, both asking questions.

“How is she?” Sam asked.

“The doctor’s said she has a splenic laceration from the stab wound. They’re working on getting her stabilised, and then they’re gonna take her into surgery.”

Callen looked pissed. “Who the hell would do this?”

“I believe I may have the answer to that, Mr. Callen,” Hetty said, entering the room. “Mr. Beale?”

Eric sighed, knowing that the older men would be pissed when they got the information. “We think it was Gordon John Brandel. Deeks’ father.” 

Sam looked at him like he grew a second head. “Deeks’ father is dead, Eric.”

“No, he’s not.”

Called glared at him. “Alright, you need to tell us everything. Now.”

So he did. He told them about how a couple years ago, a man with fingerprints matching that of presumed dead ex-convict Gordon John Brandel was arrested for assault in Minnesota. He was found not guilty at his trial through a defense of self defense, since it was proven that the other guy struck first. The police let him go, but OPS kept track of him. Hetty told Eric and Nell to keep it quiet, that no one outside of the tree of them should ever know. They assumed that after 30 years the man had no interest in pursuing his son or ex-wife, and felt there was no need to stress him out with the information. But they made sure they always knew where he was.

Until now. Somehow, Brandel had managed to disappear without them noticing. And not only did he go after Deeks, but he almost killed Kensi in the process.

To say that Callen and Sam were pissed was an understatement. In fact, Eric had never seen Callen so angry at someone who wasn’t a criminal. Which is what he was thinking as he was slammed up against the wall.

“Why the hell didn’t you ever tell us!” Callen yelled, up in Eric’s face. 

“I-I’m sorry-”

“Mr. Callen! Release Mr. Beale immediately!” 

Callen slowly released Eric’s shirt and stepped back, while maintaining a deadly glare. 

“They kept it from you on my orders,” Hetty said. “If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”

“Don’t worry,” Callen replied, “I am.” He turned and headed down the hallway towards Kensi’s room without another word. 

“I get why you didn’t tell Deeks,” Sam said, staring at Hetty. “But you could have told us. We could have helped keep him safe. Maybe then Deeks wouldn’t be missing, and Kensi wouldn’t be bleeding out in a hospital bed.” With that, he turned and followed his partner. 

Hetty watched them retreat, not trying to stop them. She turned to Eric. “Do we have any leads?”

Eric picked up his tablet, showing Hetty the surveillance footage that Nell had pulled back at OPS. “Cameras picked up a man who matches Brandel’s description forcing Deeks into his car. We didn’t get any plates, and the car is a normal black four door. It’s not much to go on.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Just do it already,” Deeks said, in an empty voice. 

“What? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Kill me.” He looked over at his father. “That’s what you want, right? Revenge for what I did to you? You kill my girl, kill me, then hopefully do the world a favour and kill yourself. So just do it.”

Brandel looked over at him, and Deeks was shocked by the sadness he could see in his eyes. “Why would I kill you, Marty? I don’t want to kill you. You’re my son, I love you. You’re all I have.”

“You don’t have me.”

He never found out if his father’s response would have been verbal or physical, because a gas station came into view ahead of them. Giving Deeks one last look, Brandel shifted his attention back forwards. “Finally,” he muttered, pulling up to a pump. “Stay here,” he said, as he got out of the car and headed inside to pay for the pump. 

As soon as his father was out of sight, Deeks went into action. With his hands tied in front of him he wouldn’t be able to defend himself easily, so he had to be quick. He knew escape wasn’t an option. The gas station was the first sign of life they had seen in over three hours, meaning there was nowhere to walk to. And Brandel had taken the keys, meaning the car wasn’t an option. He undid his seatbelt, and opened the glove compartment. He searched through it frantically, before finding what he was looking for: the rental agreement. He quickly stuffed it in his pocket before getting out of the car.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He tensed up at the sound of his father’s voice, before reminding himself to relax and play it cool. 

“I was looking for you,” he said, trying to sound honest. “I uh, I have to pee.”

His father looked at him for a moment. “Okay. But you better not try anything.” He pulled out a knife. Deeks eyed the blade warily as Brandel used it to cut the zip ties around his wrist. He roughly gripped Deeks’ arm and led him into the gas station. 

The man behind the counter looked at them as they walked in, seeming to size them up. “Hey,” Deeks said, trying to act normal. “Do you have a bathroom I could use? I feel like we’ve been on the road forever.”

The man gave him a strange look, like he could tell something was off. Deeks shifted uncomfortably. Then, the man reached under his table and pulled out a key, handing it to him. “Around the back, to the left,” he said. Deeks thanked him and took the key. 

He entered the bathroom and quickly locked the door behind him before pulling the papers and a pen out of his pocket. On the back of the paper he wrote “HELP” in big letters, and added his badge number underneath. As he was sticking the papers to the mirror, something caught his eye. 

A window.

This was his chance. Suddenly, making a run for it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Sure, there was nothing around, but he could make it a few days lost in the wilderness. He’d survived worse. He could even circle back to the gas station and call OPS for help after Brandel left. Just as he made his decision, there was a knock at the door that made him jump. 

“Marty! Hurry up in there, kid!”

“Just-just a second!” he called back. It was now or never. If he waited another second, his father would be breaking down the door. It took him a few tries, as the window was old and rusted shut, but he got it open enough to squeeze through. He fell heavy to the ground, still slightly too dizzy from the concussion to make a proper landing. As he pushed to his feet, he saw something that made his heart drop. His father running around the side of the building, straight at him. 

He tried to run, but he was still regaining his balance and only made it a few steps before strong arms were wrapping around him, halting his movements. “No! No, let me go!” he screamed, panic overtaking him. 

He then heard yelling from someone else. “Let him go!” they said. Deeks looked over to see the man from the gas station, pointing a gun at his father’s head. “Let the kid go or I’ll shoot.”

Before Deeks could fully comprehend what was going on, why this random stranger was helping him, he was once again sprawled on the ground. He looked up to see Brandel and the gas station attendant struggling for the gun. He tried to get up to help, but before he made it to his feet a shot went off, and the attendant slid to the ground, red already bubbling up through a hole in his stomach. 

“Oh my god.” Deeks scrambled over to the man, putting pressure on the wound with his hands to stop the bleeding. “You’re going to be okay,” he told him. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.” Then another shot went off.

Deeks flinched as the hot, red liquid splashed onto his face. What was once the face of a kind man who tried to help him, was now a lifeless shell with a gunshot wound in the side of his head. He was dead. He was dead because of Deeks, because he tried to help him. 

He felt himself being pulled back as Brandel roughly yanked him up by the arm. “Let’s go,” was all he said. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you think we’re gonna find when we get there?” Callen asked. 

Sam looked over at his partner. The younger man was sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the window. He had a blank look on his face, but Sam could tell he was worried for their younger teammates, just like he was. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “But my gut is telling me not to count Deeks out just yet.”

Callen looked over at him, doubt present in his eyes. “This man is responsible for so much of Deeks’ trauma. How do we know that he isn’t going to panic or freeze, and get himself killed?”

“Because Deeks isn’t a scared little boy anymore, G. He’s not just a cop anymore either. He’s one of us, and he’s a badass. We trained him to handle stuff like this. You trained him. Hell, there’s a chance that little bastard will save himself before we get there just to piss us off.” 

Callen didn’t laugh at that, but he did seem to relax a little. “You’re right,”  he said. “Deeks can handle himself.” His phone rang. “Hello?” he answered.

Whoever it was on the other end, they seemed to give him good news, as Sam could see his eyes light up. 

“Thanks, Eric,” he said, hanging up the phone. He looked over at Sam. “Security cameras picked up Deeks and Brandel at a gas station, just a few hours from here.”

Sam smiled. “Let’s go get our boy.” He pressed harder on the gas.

~~~~~~~~~

Deeks had no idea how long they had been on the road for. He supposed it didn’t matter. Kensi was dead, and he was trapped. There was no one waiting for him anymore. 

Although, that wasn’t really true, was it? He thought. Kensi was his partner, and he couldn’t imagine his life without her, but she wasn’t his only family. No, Callen, Sam, Eric, Nell, and even Hetty, they’d be worried when he didn’t show up to work. 

It had taken a while, a few years even, but he finally won Sam over. He could feel the looks of pride the older man shot him when he made a good shot or took down a bad guy. And Callen, he was like the big brother Deeks never had. Eric was his best friend, even if he had been ditching on their plans lately. And Hetty, God help anyone that took something that belonged to her. 

They would come. He just had to stay alive until they did. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by his father’s swearing. “Damnit!” he cursed, glancing up at the rearview mirror. Deeks followed his gaze to see a squad car behind them, its lights flashing. He felt his heart drop as he saw his father clenching his gun against his leg, finger over the trigger. He was going to shoot the cop. 

Deeks and Brandel both tensed up as the police car came closer. He closed his eyes, waiting for the car to slow down as his father pulled over. But it never happened. He blinked, seeing the tail end of the cop car as it sped past them. Brandel let out a sigh of relief, relaxing his grip on the gun. 

Deeks however was not as relieved as his father. They had left the body of the gas station attendant behind, and there were cameras all over the property. It was only a matter of time before the police came after them for real. Deeks refused to let anyone else get hurt because of him. 

“We need to get off this road,” he said. 

“Shut up!” his father yelled in response, still on edge. 

“There were cameras everywhere. When they find that guy-”

“Are you saying this was my fault?!”

“No,” Deeks answered honestly. “No, this was my fault.” 

“You’re damn right it is.” He reached over and grabbed Deeks’ wrist, hard. “This is what happens when you try to run away from me, Marty. People get hurt.”

“You’re right,” Deeks said, voice cracking. “I’m done running.”

Brandel let him go, and scoffed. “You must think I’m an idiot. 

“I don’t think you’re an idiot, I think you’re a monster-” he was cut off by a gasp as Brandel reached over and grabbed his hair harshly, forcing his head back. Brandel looked at him for a moment, rage and hatred in his eyes, before slowly releasing his grip. 

“That was honest, at least.”

“I mean it,” Deeks said. “I can’t stand the idea of anyone else getting hurt. I’m done running. But we need to get off this road.” 

“Oh yeah? And what do you suggest we do?”

Deeks sighed, knowing his answer would make it harder for anyone to find them, but desperate to get his father somewhere where the only person he could hurt was him. “I saw a sign for Big Bear, a few miles back. Remember the vacation homes you used to bring me and Mom to? They’re probably empty this time of year.” 

Brandel laughed. “That’s my boy!” he said, patting Deeks on the shoulder. He took the next turn to head up to Big Bear. 

~~~~~~~~~

Callen and Sam watched on the security cameras as the gas station attendant tried to get Brandel to release Deeks, only to wind up getting shot with his own gun. Callen pointed at Deeks in the corner of the screen. “Look at that. Look at the way he’s stumbling around. He can barely stand.”

“He’s probably got a concussion,” Sam agreed. “We need to find him, fast.”

“I’ve got something.” One of the cops on the scene announced, coming out of the bathroom. He handed Callen a piece of paper. “It’s a rental agreement for a black four door, with the word “help” and some numbers written on the back.”

“This is Deeks’ badge number,” Callen said, showing it to Sam. “He left this for us.”

“We can use this to track the car,” Sam said.

“I’ll call Eric.”

~~~~~~~~~

Branell kicked open the cabin door with a loud bang. He dragged Deeks inside by the arm before slamming the slightly bent door shut. He peeked out the window, turning away only when he was satisfied that there was no one around who could have seen them. “I’ll start a fire,” he said, turning towards the fireplace. 

“I’ll see if I can find us something to eat,” Deeks said. He began to walk towards the kitchen, only to be stopped by a rough hand on his elbow.

“In the kitchen? Where the knives are? I don’t think so,” his father said. He shoved him into a chair. “Just sit right there.” He turned back towards the fireplace, and began to inspect the logs. “Do you remember that one time we came up here with your mother, and we couldn’t get this thing to light? What was that, Thanksgiving?”

“It was Easter,” Deeks answered. He wasn’t surprised his father couldn’t remember; he had been blackout drunk for most of that vacation. 

Brandel walked over to him, crouching down in front of him like he was a child again. “We can start over,” he said, his voice soft. “We can go far away, get new names. We can be a family again. You’ll forgive me. You’ll love me again. It’ll be you and me, kid.” 

Deeks felt his eyes begin to water. No matter how bad things got, this was the version of his father that he’d tried to hang on to. The father who would pick him up after he fell, or tuck him on at night, and tend to his bruises, even though more often than not he was the one that put them there. This version is why it took him so long to realise that the rest of it wasn’t normal. That normal little boys didn’t freeze up in fear when they broke a glass, or learn to be quiet to keep themselves safe. 

“Yeah,” he said, getting up and walking over to the fireplace. “Mom and I always found a way to forgive you.”

Slowly sliding his hand down the smooth metal of the fire poker, he got a good grip on the base. Then he whipped it around and brought it down into the side of Brandel’s face. 

He barely heard his father scream, nor did he take in the blood that immediately started running down his face. He just ran. He ripped open the cabin door and bolted down the steps, running into the woods. 

“MARTY!” He heard his father scream after him. A quick glance back showed Brandel propping himself up in the doorway, squinting from the blood dripping into his eye. That’s all Deeks allowed himself before he once again turned forward and ran for his life. He knew that Brandel would chase after him once he reoriented himself, and he wanted as much distance as possible between them before that happened. He was moving slower due to his own head injury, but he was determined to get away. 

~~~~~~~~~

The first thing she felt as she woke up was pain. It felt like her whole body was aching, but the worst of it was in her stomach. It felt like she had been stabbed-

Suddenly it all came back. Going over to Deeks’. A man asking her for directions, only to bury a knife in her stomach. Deeks being dragged past her, screaming her name. Eric hovered over her, trying to stop the bleeding. 

Her eyes snapped open, and her breathing sped up. She needed to go save Deeks. Struggling to sit up, she began yanking at the wires in her arms. She had almost gotten the first one free when small but strong hands wrapped around her wrists, stilling her movements. She struggled against the grip. “Let me go!” She cried. 

“Kensi! Kensi, look at me!” 

She looked up at the command to see that Nell was the one holding her. Her eyes were kind but stern, telling her not to move. 

“He took Deeks,” Kensi said, no longer struggling against Nell but instead gripping her hand. 

“I know,” Nell responded. “Callen and Sam are going after them right now.”

“I need to help them.”

“Kensi, you just had a major abdominal surgery. You aren’t going anywhere.”

Tears began to pool in Kensi’s eyes. “He’s going to kill him, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know,” Nell answered honestly.

Kensi didn’t protest as Nell climbed into the bed next to her, wrapping her arms around the agent. 

~~~~~~~~~

Deeks didn’t know where he was going. He just ran. Brandel had long since started to come after him, and every so often he could hear the man shouting his name, and the echo of a gunshot. He tried to convince himself the sound wasn’t getting closer. He didn’t have any choice but to keep running. After what he did, Brandel would kill him for sure. 

“You can’t run forever!” He heard, way too close for comfort. He had hoped to lose him in the woods, but his father seemed to be right behind him. Looking behind him, he saw why. 

Footprints. 

Big Bear was the only place in all of California to get snow. The freshly fallen white powder was leading Brandel straight to him, no matter how much of a head start he had. There was no way he would be able to outrun him, not with the man able to track his every step. He needed to come up with a plan. 

~~~~~~~~~

Eric had been able to track the rental car to a set of vacation cabins up in Big Bear. Callen and Sam found the car parked near the entrance, unfortunately empty. Called walked out of the head office, over to Sam who was studying one of the maps in the pamphlet showcase. “The manager said she hasn’t seen anyone today.”

“Look at this,” Sam said, holding up the map. “They have three hundred cabins. They could be anywhere.”

“Then we’d better start searching.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Deeks hid behind a tree, clutching the fire poker tightly to his chest, and watched as his father came into view. He watched as Brandel stopped, trying to see where the footprints were going. He spun in a circle, trying to track their direction, before he stilled, realisation coming over the man. 

“You back-tracking little bastard,” Deeks heard him say. Before Brandel could do anything, Deeks ran at him with the fire poker, once again bashing it over his head before running off again. He only made it a few steps before he heard a gunshot, and then another, and ducked. He expected to hear another, but heard the familiar sound of an empty clip instead. Brandel angrily threw the gun to the ground. 

Deeks took this opportunity to once again run at him with the fire poker. “I’m not running,” he said, hitting him in the head once more. He raised his arms for another swing when he felt the burn of a knife slicing through his leg and dropped to the ground. Before he could get his feet under him his father jumped on him, using his weight to hold him down as he drove the knife into his abdomen. Deeks screamed in pain, hands flailing out beside him in a blind search for something to use as a weapon. In a stroke of luck his fingers brushed against something hard and rough, and he wrapped his hand around the branch before bringing it up and slamming it into his father’s arm, just as he was bringing the knife back down. 

Deeks turned towards where the knife had fallen. Despite Brandel already being back up and trying to pin him again, Deeks was able to grab the metal handle. He didn’t even hesitate before bringing the knife up and burying it in his father’s neck. 

As his father’s lifeless body collapsed on top of him, and he started to become dizzy from blood loss, Deeks began to sob.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“They want to take you away from me,” Brandel had told him once, when he was eight years old. “But they don’t understand that that can never happen.”

A social worker had come by that day. A teacher at school had seen one of Deeks’ new bruises, and apparently she hadn’t bought his falling off the bed excuse like he thought she had. So family services had been called to pay a visit that night. Brandel had been able to convince her that nothing was wrong, that Deeks was just a clumsy kid who played too rough. 

Brandel reached up to cup his son’s cheek, gently stroking the freshly bruised skin with his thumb. Deeks held in his wince, knowing it would just anger his father more. “You belong to me. We’re a family. We’re meant to always be together, to live together, to die together. That’s how this story ends.”

~~~~~~~~~~

To die together.

No. That is not how his story was going to end. He couldn’t just die out in the woods, next to the man who made his life a living hell. Not after Santos. Not after Sidarov. Not after Mexico. He had survived too much to go out like this. 

Letting a loud groan of pain escape, Deeks slowly got to his feet. With one hand pressing over the open wound in his stomach, he slowly began to walk. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“They were definitely here,” Sam said, pointing to the broken door frame of the cabin where it was clearly kicked in. “And it looks like they left in a hurry.”

“The question now is,” Called said, “which way did they go?”

The question was answered for them by the sound of two loud gunshots coming from the woods. The two partners looked at each other, and without a word, took off running down the path. 

~~~~~~~~~

It felt like he had been walking forever. Deeks’ vision was blurring, his energy was all but gone, and every step he took sent a fresh spark of pain into his abdomen. But still he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. His family was waiting for him. 

He stumbled, falling to his hands and knees. He gave himself a second to breathe, then put his hand back over his stomach and pulled himself back up. He tried to walk more carefully this time, which proved difficult with the way the trees seemed to be swaying around him. He knew if he went down again, he wouldn’t be able to get back up. 

He saw something up ahead then, and thought he was hallucinating. Sam and Callen, running towards him, shouting his name. He couldn’t believe it. Had they really found him?

“Deeks!” Sam shouted. 

“Sam! Callen!” he called back. And suddenly they were there. He felt strong arms wrap around him as his knees finally gave out, and buried his face into the person’s shoulder. 

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” he heard Sam whisper in his ear, as the older man gently cupped the back of his head. Deeks let out a sob as he fisted his hands in the back of Sam’s shirt. 

“Eric,” he heard Callen say into his phone. “We got him. We need an ambulance to my coordinates immediately.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~

“We’re almost at the hospital Deeks, just stay awake,” Callen said. He had opted to ride in the back of the ambulance with him, afraid to let Deeks out of his sight again. 

“I’m tired.”

“I know you are, but you know the drill, right bud?” Deeks nodded, tugging his eyes open with a great effort. “Hey,” Callen said, trying to distract him. “You think you had a rough day? Sam and I have been running all over the state looking for your scrawny ass. I wasn’t dressed for snow!”

It worked. Deeks chuckled. “Me neither,” he said with a small smile. 

“Sam is gonna call Hetty, let everyone know you’re okay. They are going to be so relieved. Kensi,” he said in a teasing voice, “Kensi most of all.”

He wasn’t expecting Deeks to tear up, or for his bottom lip to tremble. “Kensi’s alive?” He asked, his voice breaking.

Callen wanted to kick himself for not telling him that sooner. “Yeah, yeah Deeks, Kens is alive. She made it through.” He reached over to run a hand through the blond curls. “You both did.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kensi looked up as someone was wheeled into her hospital room. When she saw who it was, tears of relief sprang into her eyes. “Hey,” she said, voice watery as Deeks stood from the wheelchair and slowly made his way over to her. “I thought you were supposed to be in the hospital?”

Deeks sat down on the edge of her bed. “I am in the hospital,” he said. Despite everything, that cheeky grin that she loved so much was still there. “I got myself transferred.” He stayed still as Kensi reached up to gently trace over the bruises on his face, looking devastated. “Hey,” he said, gently removing her hand from his face and holding it with his own, “all of this is gonna heal. I’m gonna be okay. “We are gonna be okay.”

She felt him brush away a stray tear that made its way down her cheek. “I really thought-”

“Me too,” he said. 

“We're okay.” Kensi said, like she was still trying to make herself believe it.

“We’re okay,” Deeks confirmed. With that, he leaned down and finally, finally, got to kiss his date.