#densi-mber

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 - for today’s Densi-mber prompt. This group is single-handedly restoring my Christmas spirit. A shout out to you all. @densi-mber​

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Jason is used to being brave for his little sister. It’s been his job for a few years now. He’s only seven, but he feels the weight of being the older sibling – the man of what was a family of two for a while. He’s sitting next to Kimmy on the floor in front of the Christmas tree. Deeks and Kensi watch them from the kitchen.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Kensi wonders, looking at the way Jay puts his arm around his sister and pulls her close. Kimmy is only five, and it’s hard not to laugh and the seriousness of the two children as they talk in the lights of the tree.

“Umm, plotting to steal more dessert tonight?” Deeks jokes, but when he looks up and he sees his little girl wipe a tear away from her eye, and the way her big brother holds her, he is devastated. What could weigh so heavily on these two angels on Christmas Eve?

They’ve only been a family for a few months. The paperwork is final and they are finding their way, with all landmines and surprises that accompany it. There’s still a lot to figure out. He’s moved to action seeing his little girl cry, taking Kensi’s hand and bringing the family together beside the tree.

“Hey there. What’s got you down, little bug?”

She leans into her brother, and he does what he does, stepping up to look out for her.

“We were just talking.”

“What were you talking about, Jay? Is there anything we can help with?” Kensi asks him directly.

Jason’s face shows every mental gymnastic he does deciding if he should say anything. It’s been like this since he arrived - he’s been slower to trust than his sister. Kensi and Deeks are quiet and relaxed while they give him time.

“We were talking about how we could let Santa know where we live next year.”

Deeks and Kensi look at each other.

“You’ll live here with us. We’re a family now, and this is your home,” Kensi assures him.

“Santa couldn’t find us last year. Or the year before that,” Kimmy’s little voice explains.

Kensi holds Deeks’ hand a little tighter as she thinks through what that means. She says nothing while she makes sure her composure is intact. Jay fills the silence.

“The foster families we lived with the last two Christmases, they explained it – that Santa has to plan his route far in advance and that he can’t always find kids if they move around a lot.”

Kensi is desperate not to cry as Jay explains it so matter-of-factly. Deeks is struggling to hide his anger.

“It’s ok, though,” Jay tells them. “This is the nicest house we’ve ever gotten to stay in. It’s like a Christmas present.”

And Kensi can’t stop the tear from falling.

“What’s the matter, moma?” Kimmy asks.

“I’m just thinking about how brave you two are, and how well you took care of each other. I’m so proud of both of you,” she tells them.

“We got a family for Christmas. What could be better than that,” Kimmy tells them, reaching out to give Kensi a hug.

“Come here, bug guy,” Deeks says as he joins the embrace, and soon all four of them are together.

“I feel like I need to let you two in on a little secret,” Deeks tells them as he holds them close. “I absolutely agree that getting to be a family is the best gift we could have hoped for. But when we filed all the adoption papers, we filed all the change of address papers with the North Pole, too.”

“You did,” Kimmy says in wonder.

“Deeks is a lawyer,” Kensi reminds them. “He knows all the right paperwork to fill out.”

“What does that mean,” Jay asks.

Deeks gets up and goes to another room, coming back with something behind his back. “It means that Santa knows where you live this year. He even did a trial run with your Christmas stockings to make sure everything would go perfectly.”

“He did?” Kimmy says, now her wonder mixed with excitement.

Jay is skeptical, but Deeks brings his arms around and in each hand he has a stocking with their name on it and a hook to use to hang it on the mantle.

The children’s eyes go wide with excitement, and although Jay wants to play it cool, he just can’t. It’s been three years since he celebrated a Christmas like other kids do, and he missed it so much. Tears start to fall from the usually stoic child, and he runs at Deeks and throws his arms around him.

Kensi reaches over to free up Deeks’ hands so he can return the hug. He goes down on his knees so that he can look his son in the eye and reassure him.

“We are going to have so many great Christmases together little man.” Kimmy runs at them, too, never wanting to miss out on a group hug. It’s like the past two years have created a hug deficit she is eager to recoup.

“I love you, daddy,” the little girl whispers. He hears it, and he feels like his heart will burst with love.

Kensi finishes hanging the kids’ stockings and the kids run to the mantle to see the stocking up close. They are smiling and giggling and are carefree for a moment. They’ll take every moment of joy they can get.

Deeks puts his arm around Kensi. Neither of them knows if they have enough love to heal the wounds of the past for these two little ones, but they are determined to try.

A/N: Here comes my annual contribution to Densi-mber. Set between Seasons 3-5.  

Day 11:  Kensi/Deeks trying to cheer up or take care of the other after a rough day.

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The outcome of their last op took them to San Francisco. Well, not the outcome but Callen and Sam’ statement, ‘we are the senior agents, we choose who gets a 382 miles drive’. After nine days working on their last case, the team recovered weapons and classified intel that were stolen in a Freemont’s precinct, which had to be delivered safely along with the NCIS agent that joined them to coordinate the operation.

Unfortunately, the military plane that took Kensi, Deeks and Special Agent Heck to San Francisco was not available for a return trip, as any other commercial flight for the next 3 days. December 24th could be a bit of a problem for making last minute reservations, being a car trip the only option to return to LA in time for Christmas. Deeks loved the idea of spending a six hours drive with Kensi, annoying her with games, questions and Christmas songs, but alone in the car he could sense that something was bothering her.

‘’Little Saint Nick’ is by far the best song for the holidays, it has nice background music, it’s cheerful and it has history. It’s really important to know Santa’s routine on his big night. What do you say?’ He had rambled about Christmas songs and their contribution to the “merry spirit” for five minutes now. She was still silent.

‘If you say so.’ Kensi said as she watched the sunset in the passenger seat. She was distracted and distant, exhaustion taking over her as they were finally alone. Their partnership didn’t begin as peaceful and joyous as Hetty expected, but they were slowly becoming comfortable with each other and learning to relax as friends during the day brakes.

‘Hey, I get that you’re tired, but you haven’t complained about my non-stopping talk yet and you look like the girl in sad movies that stares at the old house while moving out, are you okay?’

She turned to him, surprised at his worried tone. ‘Yeah, I’m just…tired, that’s all.’

‘Sure…you’re sad because everyone is having a feast at OPS while you’re stuck with protein bars and old peanuts until our next stop. Come on partner, what’s wrong?’

Kensi sighted, she hoped their long trip would make him less persistent in his eagerness to know everything that was passing through her mind. Of course he couldn’t just let it go.

‘I told you, just tired.’

‘If you tell me I’ll be quiet for the next fifteen minutes. That’s a great offer.’ He smiled, then looked at her trying to lighten her mood just a bit.

She glanced at him, ‘As if I was listening to you…’ Cocky remark, better than silence.

‘Hurtful, Kens…hey, you can’t expect me to share a long tedious ride with you like this. Besides, it’s almost Christmas, you have to spread love and happiness. Just tell me, I’ll give you a great piece of advice and all your problems will be solved, magic deal.’ She could tell he was really trying to have an honest conversation. He was willing to offer her some peace of mind, but her habit of keeping feelings to herself was solid.

‘Why do you want to know so badly?’ Once again, her voice had a different tone.

‘You’re obviously upset. I just want to cheer you up, that’s all.’ No jokes, no teasing, he meant it. ‘But you know what? It doesn’t matter, I wa-’

‘Deeks…’ She cut him, afraid that she bothered him. He was nice and friendly, and she was being harsh to him in return, great. ‘I’m sorry, I’m…I’m not used to this. I appreciate it, I really do, but talking and sharing is not my thing.’ She looked at him, wishing to express more than she could with words.

‘Okay, not sharing then. Plan B.’

‘What’s plan B?’

A wide smile appeared on his face and as he turned up the music he proudly announced his plan, ‘Bribing you with food it is, my little sad companion.’

They stopped for pizza at a service area. As they shared a large Carbonara Special he began a light chat about abandoning their life as federal agents and travelling all over the State, discovering forgotten places and rescuing every dog they would come across. They talked about the countries they would like to visit and about their favorite TV shows; after that, they bet the last piece of pizza at rock, paper, scissor. She obviously won, west coast rules could be tricky.  Deeks’ carefree attitude and the food made her relax, and maybe even smile a bit when they fought like eight years old kids about their dream car and which one was better.

They returned to the car to fill up the gas before leaving when ‘Take on me’ began playing on the radio. Deeks danced and singed with great delight as if nobody was watching while she was crying from laughter at his total lack of shyness. She thought she was about to die of laughter when an old lady smiled and approached to him, dancing at the end of the song. Satisfied with his performance, he paid, congratulated Louise for her great moves and joined Kensi to continue with their trip. He was really something.

‘Thank you.’ She smiled softly at him. He made her laugh, forget and changed completely her mood. Kensi realized that no one had never put so much effort to know her. Deeks could be prying, but he was respectful and patient, making her comfortable enough to share untold stories or information that either Callen or Sam knew, she slowly opened up to him. She trusted him with her safety, sure she could trust him with her friendship.

‘Christmas is always a hard time, kind of a painful reminder that I failed my Dad and that I couldn’t fight hard enough for Jack. Since my Dad left, I’ve never really celebrated it.’ Looking shyly at her hands, she ate the last protein bar waiting for his reaction.  

‘Like the Grinch but sexier?’ Her laugh filled the car once again. Deeks searched for her eyes, smiling softly, almost whispering. ‘If you want I can dance for you in the middle of a gas station as a new tradition for Christmas.’

‘Weren’t you even the slightest embarrassed?’ Kensi couldn’t believe he would share such an over-the-top performance in front of three families and an astonished cashier without even blushing.

‘It made you laugh, didn’t it?’ And for that, it was worth all the effort.

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Merry Christmas to all the NCIS: LA Familia¡

CONFESSIONS ★ WEEK 66: @densi-mber

So guys, I’m trying to get some stuff planned and ready for @densi-mber and so I’m trying to figure out what gif sets to make.

While mostly I’m focusing on Densi related stuff for event in December, I’ll also take other NCIS: LA requests as well for things I can post in the meantime. While we seems to have gained/regained some gif makers recently this past season, we still have a large gap in gifs from Seasons 9 & 10, and I hope to start fixing that. - Any moments that stand out to you guys?

So any particular scenes, themes, parallels, and moments past or present you want me to explore? Please DM me or reply here, or send me an ask if you wanna be anon.

It was a rainy Friday the 13th. Kensi was clearing glasses and wiping down the bar after several customers had left.  Christmas lights were twinkling in the main window. Deeks was running bus pans to the back and checking on his mom. Just a normal, albeit damp night, at the Squid and the Dagger.

“Melissa? Is that you?” Kensi’s head snapped up and looked toward the door. She squinted, trying to figure out who it was and how they knew that name and why the voice sounded so familiar. “It’s us, Brett and Polina. We were neighbors, remember? Where’s Justin? Do you work here?” 

Kensi didn’t know what to do but she needed to get a hold of Deeks and warn him. She smiles at the couple, sets them up with a glass of wine each in a booth and RUNS to the kitchen. She practically knocks Deeks over has he comes out of the kitchen. “Whoa there SugarBear, what’s got you all riled up?” Kensi grabs her husband and drags him back into the kitchen.

“You are NOT going to believe this but remember that whacky, crazy, couple that wanted to have a foursome with us when we were working the Russian spy ring?” Deeks closed his eyes, trying to remember, and gasped. “Brett and Polina?”

“Yes!”

“You have got to be kidding! Where are they?”

“I set them up in #5 and came looking for you. What do we tell them?”

Deeks scratched at the back of his neck. His usual tell when he was thinking. “Well, we tell them half truths. We’re still married, we bought the place when my artwork wasn’t selling due to a change in the market and we wanted something more stable and this place has been fun because we get to work together. And we CANNOT let Mama meet them!!!”

Kensi nodded in agreement. “We need to get them out of here quickly. And NO we are not interested in getting together. Do you understand Hubby!” Deeks chuckled it was a crazy evening. With a plan of action agreed upon, the happy couple approached their guests.

Polina’s eyes lit up when she saw “Justin”. Kensi noticed and placed herself semi in front of her husband and out of the attractive blond’s reach. Deeks rubbed his hand on his wife’s waist to calm her down and whispered “easy Tiger” in her left ear. Brett offered a hand to “Justin” and the two men stared at each other. Deeks remembered how he didn’t like the way Brett looked at his then pretend wife, much like he didn’t like the way he was now looking at his actual wife.  Yeah they need to get them out here.

Small talk was exchanged and much like that dinner long ago, the couple tried to entice Justin and Melissa into coming to dinner and renew acquaintances. This time the bar owners were able to beg off due to ownership, time of year, gosh it’s just too bad, yada yada yada. 

Fortunately, the nine o’clock movie crowd was making its way into the bar. Brett looked at his watch. “Honey we need to get going.” Polina nodded and started to get up. Justin was happy to comp the wine and thanked them for coming in. 

Deeks offered a “Happy Holidays!” as Kensi was seating new customers. Brett and Polina headed for the door. Kensi came up behind her husband and swatted at him. “What are you looking at?”

“I wonder if Polina is still modeling? Cause that walk……”