californiadreaming

Taking the escalator down to the taxi stand, Kensi was tired and ready to go home.  There was still more work to do, maybe another trip to Hawaii in a few weeks.  She was going to have frequent flyer miles to actually go someplace if she ever found out the truth.  But first she needed to get on a long line for a taxi.

"KIKI BANKS" was the name on the piece of paper Deeks was holding as he waited at the foot of the escalator.  "Kiki," he said with a smile.  "Welcome home."

"Who is Kiki Banks?" Kensi said, not betraying how happy she was to see him.  She just wanted to go home and a ride from Deeks was a lot better than a taxi line. 

"Oh, how quickly they forget.  You were Kiki Banks in that wellness center before we wound up on the Queen Mary."

"Terrible name."

"Great undercover name.  Identical initials, similar syllable cadence.  And all off the top of my head.  No wonder Hetty recruited me."  Deeks held the door opened as they started to short-term parking.

"Lots of wondering why Hetty recruited you, to be honest."

"Good lawyer, better cop, brilliant undercover name generator and able to find out flight and arrival time, down to the half-hour so I don't have to pay too much to park.  I'm the complete package."

Deeks was parked right by the entrance.  He was also damn good at finding the best parking spot.  "Did you enjoy Hawaii?" he asked.

"Really touristy this time…" she regretted 'this time' as quickly as she said it.

"Hawaii touristy at Christmas time, do tell," he teased.

"There are always a lot of tourists but seemed like there were a lot of families on vacation.  Everything was so crowded."

"Next year when you and I go to Australia, we'll be the touristy types."

"We're not going to Australia next year,"

"Why not?  Australia would be fun."

"I'm sure it would be," Kensi sighed.  She barely knew what she was doing next week.  Looking into her father's murder was consuming everything lately.  She wasn't planning anything.

"Everything okay?" Deeks asked.  He took her bag and threw into the back bench of his truck.

"Tired.  Jet-lagged.  Ten-days of activities crammed into five."

"I was surprised to see you coming back on the 30th."

"All those tourists have to go home at some point.  Wanted to beat them to it.  Especially since I couldn't beat them to the breakfast buffet or the gym."

They sat in a comfortable since as Deeks got them on the freeway. 

"You have any New Year's plans?" Kensi asked.  She had a ton of laundry and bills to pay.  Also update her files on her Dad.

"Working the Rose Bowl Parade then working the Rose Bowl security.  Do it every year."

"That's right.  I was surprised when you said that last year."

"Overtime is good.   I'm the good guy at work, my old work, when people want to celebrate New Year's Eve and not roll out of bed at 5AM to get to the parade staging area."

"You don’t want to celebrate New Year's Eve?"

"Amateur hour," Deeks pulled off the freeway, turning to Kensi's place.  "You have plans?"

"Nah.  Too much to do before we go back to the office."

"I'm sure the mail's piled up.  Not that you'd notice that," he joked.  He pulled up in front of her place.  Grabbing her bag he asked, "Hope you had a nice trip."

"I did," Kensi said, taking the bag and jumping out.  "Maybe not Australia next year – something closer might be fun."

"Duly noted.  Happy New Year."

A/N: I had to get a little creative with this one to make it logical.

***

Two Best Friends

Deeks sat on the couch, facing the TV, but not really watching. He’d turned on some cooking show a while ago, using it more as background noise than anything.

“You’re awfully quiet today. What’s going on?” Kensi tapped his leg so he’d make room for her. She wiggled into the spot he made, shifting to face him.

“Ray turned 39 today,” he explained with a wistful smile. “Well, I guess his alias turned 39. WITSEC let him keep his real birthday. You know, to have something from his old life.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I know not being able to see him is hard.”

“It’s just weird. Even when we lost touch before, I knew I could find him if I wanted. Since he’s been in protective custody, it feels like a part of my childhood no one else understands is gone.”

At one point, Kensi might have ridiculed him for his attachment to Ray, especially given the trouble Ray had caused during his brief encounter with the team. Now, she squeezed his hand instead, scooting even closer.

“Tell me about him,” she prompted.

“You know most of it. We grew up together. Our dads were violent and everyone thought we were one first beer away from following in their footsteps. Once we were both out of high school, our lives took very different paths.”

“Yes, I know that but there are a lot of gaps. Tell me a story about you two. Before that divergence.” Kensi nudged his shoulder encouragingly.

Leaning back, Deeks tried to think of something that wasn’t sad or depressing. Those parameters didn’t necessarily leave a lot of options. After a minute, he finally came up with something he thought would put Ray in a positive, but humorous light and capture the hijinks of their teenage years.

“Ray’s a couple of years older than me, right? So, he always looked out for me,” he started.

Kensi tilted her chin up so she could watch him, her expression open and curious.

“Part of that included being my wingman.” He paused, remembering a sixteen year old Ray giving out severely inaccurate advice. “My freshman year, he knew I had this crush on a girl, and he made it his mission to get us together.”

“I can just picture baby Marty Deeks crushing on the head cheerleader,” Kensi teased without any real heat.

“Actually, captain of the swim team. It was before my growth spurt, so she was at least a head taller than me. Which might explain why she never gave me a second thought. That and she was super hot and a junior,” Deeks said, intentionally poking fun at himself.

“Clearly she had no taste.”

“Anyway, Ray started leaving these gifts with my name on them. Flowers, her favorite candy, notes. One day, he even ditched math class to sneak into her economics course to talk me up.”

“Oh no,” Kensi said covering her mouth.

“Yeah. I think he brought up my surfing, compared me to Adonis, and promised I’d write her an original violin piece,” he said. “Then, he said if she was interested, she should meet me on the beach for the best date of her life.”

“Did it work?”

“Absolutely not. Ray kicked out of the class and got two days of detention. For a couple of weeks, a part of the school population forgot I was supposed to be a complete degenerate. It might sound weird, but even though he made it so much worse, I appreciated it. Cause I knew nobody else had my back like he did.

“He sounds like a good friend,” Kensi murmured.

“He is. And I probably should have told him that more often.” Deeks sighed.

Just like these cats, we have nine (or more?) lives!

Yes, that's right! Densi-mber is back for the 9th time! @ejzah and I ( @mashmaiden ) can't let it go quite yet!

If you've been around before, you know what to expect. If you're new, expect Kensi, Deeks, and Densi goodness in all forms (Stories, gifs, maybe some trivia) throughout the month! Also, anything fun and new Densi things you have can be featured too! Just reach out or tag us! =D

A/N: Happy first day of Densimber! I’ll be sharing a story a day as usual. I can’t wait to read to see everyone else’s creations this year!

***

Trim the Tree

“I think that’s all the important Christmas stuff.” Deeks surveyed the line of crates and containers spread through the living room. Kensi set the last one one the carpet next to the tree while Rosa started unpacking some decorations.

Deeks had already strung lights around the tree, thankfully completely unknotted this year, so they just needed to add the ornaments. Caleb and Sophia bounced around them, peering into boxes and seeming generally excited, but confused about the whole process.

“You know, your first Christmas, you were just a baby,” Deeks reminisced.

“I was a teeny-tiny baby?” Caleb wondered. “Like Unca Callen’s baby?”

“Yep. Even smaller.”

“Sophia too?”

“Yes, you were both little.”

“Then last year, we spent half the time trying to keep you guys from knocking the tree down,” Deeks continued, pulling a face that made the twins laugh.

“Das so silly, daddy,” Sophia giggled. “I not knock it down. I’m a big girl.” She puffed out her chest, stretching up on her toes.

“Because you’re big kids, you get to help decorate,” Kensi said. “But you have to be careful.”

“I not throw dem, mommy.”

Caleb nodded in agreement with Sophia’s promise.

“No, you shouldn’t throw the decorations,” Kensi agreed. She selected one of the less fragile ornaments from a tub and held it up. “But the ornaments that go on the tree can break. So you can’t drop them. You have to be gentle.”

“Then they—they gone for eber?” Caleb whispered, wide-eyed.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Oh no!” Sophia gasped dramatically, taking a step away from the box.

“They’re not going to jump out at you,” Rosa teased. “Look.” She selected a wooden ornament and delicately hung it from a middle branch, narrating the process in a combination of Spanish and English. Sophia and Caleb watched her, as riveted as if they were watching an episode of Bluey.

When Rosa finished, Caleb bent down into the box closest to him and pulled out a delicate icicle shaped ornament and passed it to Sophia.

“I be so careful, mommy,” Sophia promised.

“Ok. Let me just—ah—help you with that on.” Grimacing, Kensi kept her hands cupped, ready to catch the ornament if Sophia slipped. She let out a sigh of relief when Sophia managed to place the hook over a branch.

Sophia stepped back and let out a soft little sigh. “It’s so—it’s beautiful. Look, Caleb.” She grabbed her brother’s hand and pulled him closer to get a better view.

“Yay, you did it!” Caleb sang and they gave each other a celebratory hug.

“I wanna do one too!” Similar to Sophia, he chose a very breakable ornament, which Deeks helped him with.

“Rosie, you help too. Here, hab dis one!” Caleb insisted, selecting a scratched silver ball usually saved to fill in the middle of the tree.

“Gracias.”

Deeks thought the twins would get tired after a few ornaments, but they kept going, determined to use every last one. When the tree branches were bending with the weight, he took a step back and examined their hard work.

“Wow. I can genuinely say, we have never had a Christmas tree like this,” he said.

“It’s one of a kind,” Kensi agreed, pressing her lips together. Usually, they grouped ornaments according to size and appearance, saving a section towards the back for the homemade and quirky ones. This time, there was no rhyme or reason.

“You did a great job,” Kensi told the twins.

They both beamed, and Sophia took Caleb’s hand. “Thank you, mommy.” She yawned and made a show of patting her tummy. “I a little bit hungry now.”

“I’ll get you some cheese and crackers,” Rosa offered, leading the two to the kitchen.

As soon as they were out of ear shot, Kensi turned to Deeks, and burst into laughter. “Oh my god, it’s so ugly,” she whispered, nearly crying. “It’s so gaudy.”

“It is,” Deeks agreed. “But it’s also kind of perfect at the same time.”

“Yeah.” She leaned her head on his shoulder and took a moment to appreciate the tree, in all its glory. Then the delicate tinkle of an ornament slowly falling through the branches, followed by the distinct sound of breaking glass interrupted the moment.

“I’ll go get the vacuum,” Deeks said. “And maybe check the rest of the ornaments.”

Little did he know, he was already a father…

ERIC CHRISTIAN OLSEN AS MARTIN DEEKS NCIS: LOS ANGELES l INTERNAL AFFAIRS