#deeks whump

Hard Day’s Work

Deeks drags himself out of his truck, his right foot catching on the floor mat. The last nine weeks, he’s been undercover for LAPD. Tonight, the operation finally came to a head and Deeks with the help of SWAT brought in an entire squad of criminals.

Instead of his usual roles, Deeks had played a broke store clerk turned informant for the gang. It meant he spent a lot of time working all hours of the night and doing grunt work. He’d also had to portray the kind of guy desperate enough to take such a crappy job, which translated to a closet of an apartment, a barely functioning car, and meager funds.

Deeks trips his way up to the front door, his stomach growling and a little lightheaded. After debriefing Bates, it’s nearly three in the morning. His clothes are dirty, he’s exhausted, and he’s starving, but the need to be home, to see Kensi, overrides everything else.

He opens the front door as quietly as he can, but finds Kensi sitting on the couch in a dim pool of light coming from a single lamp. She stands up before he’s fully inside.

“Deeks, oh my god,” Kensi exhales in relief, ushering him into her arms. At this point, it’s taking all his focus to stay upright so he lets her support him.

“I missed you,” he whispers into her neck.

“I did too.” Leaning back, but still keeping him close, Kensi cups his jaw with one hand and brushes his bangs back, eyeing him with concern. “Are you really ok? I hate that we couldn’t talk this whole time.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” He blinks a couple times so he doesn’t fall asleep right there. “You didn’t have to stay up.”

“Like I could sleep after you called. It’s been over two months, Deeks,” she says, kissing him softly.

A wave of dizziness rocks through him and he sways against Kensi, he eyes closing for a few seconds.

“Oh baby, come here.” Taking his hand, Kensi leads him to the couch and gently pushes him down.

The second his body hits the cushions, Deeks groans in relief; it’s softer, and cleaner, than anything he’s slept on in weeks. He lets his head fall back and closes his eyes.

“Are you hungry?”

He shrugs in response, because now that he’s sitting down, eating sounds like a lot of work.

“I’ll be right back,” Kensi tells him. Deeks thinks she might add something else, but he doesn’t catch it.

“Kay.”

When Kensi comes back sometimes later, he’s fully asleep. He startles at Kensi gently nudging his shoulder. Fortunately, his reflexes are off enough that he doesn’t accidentally hit her.

“Hey, it’s ok.” She rests her hand on this middle of his back until his heart stops pounding. Then she wordlessly hands him a glass of water.

Deeks downs it in a few gulps. Kensi exchanges it for a second one, which he drinks more slowly. Already, he feels a little better and he finally notices the tray Kensi brought in with a random collection of food. He’s guessing she grabbed whatever happened to be around.

“Thanks,” he says belatedly.

Kensi curls up next to him while he slowly works his way through a bowl of tomato soup and half a grilled cheese. He stalls out a few bites into the sandwich; it’s more than he’s eaten in a while. Plus, with his stomach full, he’s ready to pass out again.

“You look really thin,” Kensi comments. She traces the line of his jaw and then his sides. “What happened out there?”

“Dean wasn’t exactly rolling in money. Most days I lived off of stuff that was about to expire. As long as my temporary boss wasn’t looking.” He’s definitely lost some weight between the lack of food and the relatively active role of snitch.

“Oh my god.”

“Eh. It could’ve been worse,” he says. He chuckles. “Sam’s gonna have a field day.”

Not if I have anything to say about it,” Kensi says tersely. Her protectiveness makes him smile. “Are you sure you don’t want something else? I could make some eggs or get you some ice cream.”

“I want to, but I think I just need to sleep,” Deeks decides.

“Ok.” Kensi smiles, her eyes suddenly wet with unshed tears. This time, Deeks pulls her to his chest. “I love you,” she murmurs, tipping her chin up for another kiss.

***

A Weird Day

Deeks sat on the edge of the bed, Kensi positioned diagonally to him their knees brushing. They’d gotten home about an hour ago and eaten a quick dinner before Kensi insisted on examining his knife wound. It burned persistently, but wasn’t that bad all things considered.

“The EMTs already checked it out,” he pointed out, though he didn’t make any attempt to stop Kensi. He was tired, and her fingers gently moving over his arm felt pretty soothing.

“Yeah, and they did a shoddy job,” Kensi said disapprovingly. She pointed to the swath of bandages wrapped around his wrist. “It’s already bleeding through.”

Twisting his hand, he saw there was a quarter sized spot of blood soaking through the material. “Huh, didn’t notice that.”

“Probably because Kilbride decided to put you right back to work.” Based on Kensi tone, Kilbride was lucky to be far away. Shaking her head, Kensi grabbed their well-stocked first aid kit and removed gauze, bandages, and liquid bandage along with antiseptic wipes. “He should have sent one of us to question Miriam Sivac again.”

“Well.” Deeks scooted back on the bed with a slight wince. “I had an established rapport—or weird flirtation—with her.” He grimaced at the memory of his conversations with Miriam. Flirting as a part of the job was nothing new to him, but it rarely felt good. Especially with someone as heartless as Miriam Sivac.

Kensi had started to unwind the old bandages, and looked up with a question in her eyes. “What exactly did she say to you?” she wondered.

“Uh, she confused me for her pool boy slash gigolo, asked me to take care of a squirrel she possibly killed, possibly made multiple passes at me, and a lot of pretty despicable things about her family,” he drawled. When he finished, he heaved a sigh of mental and physical exhaustion.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” Kensi made a face, pausing to caress the back of his hand then continued unwinding the last of the gauze.

“We both had a lot worse.”

“Still, it doesn’t make it feel any better,” she said. “If I was there, I would have glared at her for you.”

“Actually, she might have enjoyed that,” Deeks said wont a soft chuckle. “I think she enjoys drama.” He glanced at his newly revealed wound. It was still oozing some and while the edges of the cut were fairly clean, they looked a little inflamed.

“We’ll have to keep an eye on that.” Lifting his arm to eye level, Kensi smoothed her fingers over the skin around the wound without actually touching it. “You scared me today. When I heard the fight and then I didn’t see you, I thought the worst,” she said, speaking calmly, but Deeks heard the emotion underneath. “I almost dropped everything to go after you.”

“I’m sorry I worried you,” he sighed. “I didn’t have time to explain my plan. If you can call it that.”

“You did the right thing. I was just relieved when you popped up in that hearse.” She swallowed heavily and quickly bandaged his arm, pressing her lips to the surface when she was done.

“Come here.” Deeks held out his arms, pulling Kensi against his chest as she curled up on him. “Let’s agree to no more funerals. Or fish.”

Fandom: NCIS LA

Characters: Marty Deeks, Kensi Blye, Eric Beale, Nell Jones, Sam Hanna, G Callen

Read Chapters 1-5 Here

A/N: Shouts out to @bluenet13 who made me finish this fic! 

                                XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Whoa,” Kensi said, putting her hands up. “Bill, what’s going on?”

“Well that’s a question I think we’d like you to answer,” Bill said kindly. “Is there a reason you and Marty were poking around here earlier?”

Kensi chose her next words carefully. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. We stopped by to see if you were home.”

“I think we both know you did a little more than that,” Bill said. “Mighta seen some things we didn’t mean for you to see.”

“Bill, I’m not sure what you think is going on here, but let’s go back outside and see if we can sort it out.”

“Works for me. Carol’ll want to hear this I’m sure.”

Kensi moved carefully past him and walked to the front of the RV. When she stepped outside she found Carol still sitting at the picnic table with Deeks. But Deeks had his head on the table and seemed off. “Babe? You okay?” Kensi asked loudly, careful not to make any sudden movements. 

“He’s a little sleepy dear,” Carol said. “I think that port really did him in!”

“Okay, what’s going on here?” Kensi asked, worry spiraling through her. Deeks owned a bar, the man could definitely hold his liquor and one glass of port shouldn’t have him face first in his desert. 

“Remember how we told you that you have to keep things fun as you get older?” Bill said. “Well Carol and I started this road trip and thought we needed a little action. Something to spice it up.”

“So you committed a robbery,” Kensi said.

“Well just a tiny one,” Carol said. “But it was so easy. So we went bigger.”

Kensi was trying to listen while also keeping her eyes on Deeks. He was stirring but seemed lethargic. “Did you drug my husband?” she asked incredulously.

“Just a little bit,” Carol said, patting him gently on the back. “If you’d just drunk yours like you were supposed to we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

“You were going to drug us and then drive away,” Kensi said. “Deeks was right.”

“See, I told you they were getting suspicious,” Bill said.

“You called it dear,” Carol said with a sigh. “I should have listened to you.”

“And I should have listened to Deeks,” Kensi muttered. 

Ooooh, @the-wandering-whumper asking the tough questions! Tough as in making me narrow it down! Okay, going thru my list of fics on Pocket that I had tagged whump (some many be more Hurt/Comfort or aftercare based as that's my whumpy trope of choice). Also, I have no idea how to tag this content so just know that there could be any level of whump in any of these fics, from emotional angst/PTSD to general illness to full on torture. (If you/anyone need further clarification on a specific fic, please ask)

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10087497/1/A-Razor-s-Edge

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12180179/1/Brother-Let-Me-Be-Your-Shelter by @chicgeekgirl89

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11901716/8/There-is-No-Thing 

^^One of my favorite oneshots by @cbetham though chapter 6 of the same fic set inspired my own angsty WIP

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7203264/1/Weakness

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6980872/1/Shake-Shiver

Pretty much anything by TinkerBella7

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10590174/1/Frozen is one of my go-tos though

^^as is https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10312988/1/Can-t-Keep-A-Good-Man-Down

^^https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10821245/1/It-s-a-Two-Way-Street

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12554550/1/The-Origin

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7621360/1/Photographic-Memories

Anything by Sweet-Lu

^^I really enjoyed https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13523161/1/The-Flower-Child-and-The-Fuzz

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7578248/1/Friends

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7649480/1/What-is-it-about-Deeks-Explosions

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8884922/1/It-s-A-Long-Way-Down

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12723888/1/The-Nightmare-Post-Scene-to-The-Silo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4219074

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13438749/1/The-Campout

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6415705

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11516072/1/The-Walls-Have-Ears by @ejzah

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13495189/1/Kiss-the-Demons-Out-of-My-Dreams by @anonkp

Gonna end with Ghost by the amazing @bluenet13​ cuz I know I sent her some @trope-appreciation-tuesdays​ posts for inspiration while it was being written - so that brings this back around full circle.  😜

***

You Cried For Help and I Walked Away, Part 3

Kensi only left Deeks’ room long enough to update Callen and Granger. She could tell neither man was pleased with her continued absence, and Hetty gently suggested that she come back so Deeks could rest. Kensi had firmly declined, ignoring the quiet voice in her head that warned of impending repercussions; she could get another job if she needed to.

As she walked towards Deeks room, she saw Sam walking out. Last she’d seen him, he’d been hooked up to several machines. Now, he looked remarkably like himself for what he’d been through. Though Kensi would bet the doctors weren’t too pleased he was up and around already.

“How is he?” she asked when she was a few feet away, and Sam jerked slightly. That told her more about his current state than anything else.

“Oh, he’s sleeping,” Sam answered with a tight smile. “I’ll try again later.” He exhaled slowly and walked over to the bench a few rooms down and sat with an obvious wince. “Sidorov really put him through it, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did. Both of you.” She sat next to him, letting herself relax for just a moment.

“I feel lucky in comparison.” Shaking his head in apparent dismay, he asked, “What was the damage?”

“Several broken teeth, dislocated jaw, fractured cheek bone, and broken nose,” Kensi listed off, keeping her report slightly robotic so she didn’t break down. “He has preliminary reconstructive surgery, but he’ll need more.”

“God. I don’t know how he took all of it. I didn’t think he could.”

Kensi glanced up in surprise. “Why? Deeks has never once let any of us down. He’s always had our backs.”

“You’re right,” Sam admitted with a soft, self-deprecating chuckle. “This whole time, in the back of my mind, I’ve been waiting for him to slip up and prove my feelings about him our true. I owe him an apology and a whole lot of gratitude.”

Kensi resisted the strong urge to make a biting comment or two. Sam had spoken up for Deeks back in the emergency room and clearly felt guilty now. He didn’t need her to reprimand him.

“Well, now you’ll get the chance to tell him. And knowing Deeks, he’ll forgive you,” she said, reaching over to squeeze Sam’s shoulder.

***

Kensi’s plans to spend the rest of the afternoon with Deeks were interrupted with a flurry of texts and calls that had her ducking in and out. After the third time, Deeks had woken up when she slipped back into his room.

Her momentary relief was immediately dampened by his distant expression.

“Deeks,” she said quietly, but he still jerked and inhaled sharply as if he hadn’t noticed her before that.

“Hey. I thought you left.”

“No, I plan to stay as long as I can.”

“That’s not necessary, Kens,” he protested softly, looking towards the window as he spoke. He gestured to her phone while keeping his head lowered, hair flopping into his eyes. “They want you to come in, right. What’s the plan?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kensi insisted. “Because I’m not going yet.”

“C’mon Kens, tell me what’s going on. It’ll be a good distraction.” He finally looked up, his expression pleading. “I gotta know that Michelle makes it through this.”

Kensi couldn’t deny him that. “We think Sidorov is trying to distract and pull us in too many directions so he can escape. I’m supposed to join them soon. Hetty asked if you could help. Of course I told her—”

“I’ll do it,” Deeks interrupted.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know. But Sidorov tried to break me. I deserve the chance to help take him down. Who knows, it might be my last official act with NCIS.” He gave her a sad, barely there smile. “Will you help me get dressed.”

***

You Cried For Help and I Walked Away, Part 2

Shortly after Granger left, Deeks was taken back to prep for oral surgery and Sam for further testing. Kensi’s stomach sank as Deeks disappeared behind the swinging doors, afraid it might be the last time she saw him.

It was several hours before a nurse came back out to tell Kensi Deeks’ surgery had gone well. Sam was stable and his own room, with orders to stay put since apparently he’d already tried to break out. Kensi followed the nurse to Deeks’ room, scared by how still and pale he looked in the bed.

She pulled up a chair, adjusting the blanket over Deeks so it covered his chest and shoulders, and settled in to wait.

***

Kensi stared at the latest text Callen had sent her, updating on Michelle and Sidorov. Just the sight of his name made her angry. She wanted nothing more than to hunt him down and make him feel every bit of pain and torture he’d put Sam and Deeks through. She’d bed Sidorov wouldn’t be so calm and smug anymore.

A pained groan interrupted her dark thoughts, and she dropped her phone to the side, moving closer to Deeks’ side. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but based on the tightness around his lips and eyebrows, he was about to wake up.

“It’s ok. You’re ok, Deeks,” Kensi said softly, brushing her fingers through his hair. She didn’t know if it was the right choice, but she couldn’t just sit by doing nothing. Some of the tension eased eventually and he slowly blinked, his eyes glazed and unfocused. “Hey.”

He eventually focused on her, a tinge o relief in his eyes. “Hey,” he murmured. His lips were swollen, cracked, and bruised, and the rest of his face looked even worse. Someone had clearly attempted to clean him up, but remnants of dried blood still crusted around his mouth and nose. He licked his lips, wincing and then swallowing heavily. “What—what happened?”

“Um, you had surgery to fix your teeth and jaw,” Kensi explained carefully.

Deeks squeezes his eyes shut, drawing in several slow and shaking breaths. When he opened his eyes again, they had a haunted, distant quality.

“Sidorov,” he breathed.

“Yeah.” Sniffing, Kensi forced herself to stay composed. Deeks needed her calm and present, not adding to his distress. “They said it went well. You might need some follow up procedures after you heal some.”

Deeks shuddered and shook his head minutely. “God, no.” He clenched his jaw, and she wondered if he remembered what happened with the ER doctor.

“Ok,” she said, ready to agree to anything if it would help him relax. “You don’t have to.” She started to card her fingers through his hair again and eventually the tension in his jaw released.

“How’s Sam?” he asked after a few minutes. The words were noticeably more slurred, his lips barely parted.

“He’s doing ok too. It’s not great, but not as bad they were anticipating,” she answered. Deeks nodded minutely, eyes slipping closed again.

“You should be with Michelle.”

“I’m needed here,” Kensi said simply. Deeks started to protest, but she closed her other hands over his. “I’ll go if I really need to. You can rest. I’ll watch over you.”

***

***

Deeks: Ow.

Kensi, applying bandages to Deeks’ shoulder: I’m sorry, baby. I’m almost done.

Sam, walking in: What the hell happened to you?

Deeks, wincing: Our suspect tried to flambé me.

Sam: Damn. Should you be at the hospital? And what happened to the suspect?

Deeks: Nah, I’ll be ok. The guy’s in custody with a broken nose, a dislocated shoulder, and a couple of missing teeth.

Kensi, smoothing down the last bandage: There you go. *she kisses his cheek*

Deeks: Thanks, baby.

Callen, shrewdly: Why do I have the feeling most of the suspect’s injuries are thanks to Kensi?

Kensi, calmly: Hey, I was just backing up my partner. Deeks took him down, I made sure he didn’t get back up.

No Rest for the Weary

Deeks stared at the wall, eyes half-closed. Thanks to the heavy dose of medication a nurse gave him a couple hours ago, the monitors tracking his heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen were a blurred mess. Unfortunately, nothing could fully cut through the pain of his obliterated molars and gums. Which meant he hadn’t slept for more than a few minutes at a time.

When he did manage to fall asleep, Sidorov laughing over him, the shrill whining of a drill in his mouth, and Sam’s screams haunted him. The surgeon he’d talked with had mentioned significant oral reconstruction and possible plastic surgery. Just the thought of having someone working in his mouth made his chest tighten.

Deeks clenched his jaw, focusing on the pain of his broken teeth touching. He inhaled sharply, forcing himself to maintain the pressure until he could breathe again. His heart rate had just started to slow when the hospital room door opened. He sat up, instantly on defensive mode until he saw it was Kensi.

“Hey.” She hovered half in and out before deciding to come in all the way.

The way her eyes roved over him made Deeks wonder just how bad he looked. Someone had cleaned up most of the blood, but he still couldn’t be pretty right now.

“Kensi. Hey. What—what are you doing here?” he managed, brushing his fingers through his hair. Just like with Sam, he felt exposed. “I thought you were watching Michelle’s back.”

“Sidorov has her,” Kensi said softly.

“What does that mean?” The mention of Sidorov turned his stomach.

“I don’t know how, but he knows Michelle’s a spy. We think he’s trying to leave the country with her.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah. He’s throwing out a bunch of distraction, but we think we know where he’s leaving from.” Kensi inhaled quickly. “I know this is a terrible thing to ask, but we need your help. We don’t have enough people on the ground to cover everywhere and—”

“I’ll do it,” Deeks said, cutting her off. “What do you need me to do?”

Kensi exhaled in obvious relief, and set the duffel bag on her arm down, pulling out a set of clothes he recognized from his own go-bag. While she got everything out, she rattled off the plan—which seemed to rely heavily on everything falling exactly into place and Deeks’ aim.

That should probably worry him more than it did. Instead, it gave him something to focus on.

Deeks pulled the oximeter off his finger and detached the rest of medical equipment, ignoring the immediate shrieking of the various machines. As he shifted off the bed, the room shifted around him. Deeks caught himself on the edge of the bed. A couple shakes of his head took care of most of the dizziness.

“Deeks, are you ok?” Kensi started towards him, but he waved her off, forcing himself upright.

If Kensi touched him, he didn’t think he could hold it together long enough to help Sam and Michelle.

“I’m good.”

Pausing with her arms full of his clothes, Kensi stared at him with so much concern he had to look away. She headed towards him again, stopping a few feet short. She didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands, alternating between squeezing his rolled up shirt and biting at her thumbnail.

“You don’t have to do this. If you’re not ready, we can figure something else out,” she said. “After everything you’ve—you don’t need to push yourself.”

“I’m fine, Kensi,” he told her more firmly. Every words hurt and his jaw was one fire, but he could do this. He didn’t know what he’d do after that, but he wouldn’t let Sidorov hurt anyone else. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be ready.”