#eric beale

Deeks pulled up to Eric's apartment building. "Wake up, Eric."

"Hmnmnmnm"

"Eric, you're home," Deeks said, shaking Eric's arm.

"What?"

"You're home.  I drove you home."  Deeks knew Eric was tired – had to be up for at least a day and a half.  And not an easy day and a half at that.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Eric said, still a little confused by what was going on.

"Eric, do you know where you are?"

"Home.  You drove me home."

"And I am?"

"Deeks, Marty Deeks.  LAPD."

"So glad you remembered," Deeks said with a smile.  "Now the next time you decide to do police-y things, please remember that Marty Deeks, LAPD recognition."

"I thought I was helping."

"I'm sure you thought that.  You weren't."

"I tried."

"Yes, you tried to help.  You know what would have helped more?"

Eric didn't say anything, just shook his head no.

"Suppose you got over to your friend's place, and I'm sorry your friend is dead, but you got over to your friend's place and Ira was bleeding out.  Do you think calling 911 and getting a cop car and an ambulance over there would have been more helpful?"

"Yeah."

"Or if the guys who shot him were there?  How does that end for you?"

"About as well as it ended for Ira."

"Exactly.  Eric, you're great at what you do.  If I ever need to hack into the LAPD Pension computer system for some unapproved updating, you're my first call."

Eric smiled, pleased with the compliment.  "Thank you."

"Make sure I'm your first call when you hear gunshots.  Or call Callen.  Or Sam.  Or Hetty, who will likely have ninja commandos rappelling down from some secret invisible helicopter before you finish the call."

"I really thought I was helping.  And I didn't want to bother you.  Or Callen.  Or Sam.  And especially not Hetty."

"OK, I get calls all the time from OSP people who have LAPD incidents.  Callen hasn’t had to go to driving school since I joined fulltime, which was something Hetty actually mentioned in status report to Vance about a year ago."

"Yeah, he used to have to go all the time."

"And now he doesn't.  That's a minor thing.  Shooting – always a major thing.  Trust me.  I know.  Personally."

"Maybe I wanted to prove myself…"

"You want to prove yourself, change all the traffic messages to say "Go Clippers!" the next time the Lakers win the West.  Leave the police work to oh say, the police."

"Thanks for bailing me out this morning.  Thanks for driving me home tonight."

"Thanks for not getting yourself killed.  Get some sleep – maybe tell Hetty you're taking a day and surf a little, touch sand."

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Eric said, "I think it's touch grass."

"For people like you and me, it's touch sand."

"I'll think about it," Eric said as he left the car.  "Again, thanks for everything Deeks."

***

Two weeks passed without any updates from Agent Martinez. Deeks wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.

His doctor had cleared him for another month unless new symptoms popped up and therapy tapered to once a week. So during the day, Deeks threw himself into studying as much as he could. There was limited information about the potential liaison position, but Deeks had started checking off the requirements he met and looking into those he didn’t.

Underneath all the business, he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Every time he considered his choices, his mind went to what Kensi or the team would think.

Kensi seemed to sense his need for activity and helped keep him occupied with various outings during the evenings and weekends. And when he didn’t feel particularly social, they found other ways to fill the time.

He’d also started catching up with old friends and making his way through any numbers he didn’t recognize in his phone. Explaining his situation had been a fun experience. Most people were accepting, but a few either thought it was an elaborate joke. Or seemed extremely uncomfortable with his situation.

Deeks sighed now as he battled with one of the strings he was threading through the guitar he’d found in his bedroom. His mom had taken the news of his “condition” surprisingly well. At least the conversation hadn’t involved any hysterics. The idea that he’d want anything to do with law enforcement after this though was another thing. They’d argued for several minutes last night before mutually deciding to take a break before one of them said something unfortunate.

“Just can’t catch a break,” Deeks murmured to himself as the new string snapped.

The doorbell rang a moment later and he took that as a sign, he wasn’t meant to play the guitar today.

“I’m coming!” He answered the door to find Eric waiting.

“Hey, Eric, Kensi’s not here,” Deeks told him apologetically. “She’s having brunch with friends.”

“That’s perfect. Because I came to see you,” Eric replied with a slightly awkward, but endearing grin. “I thought maybe you’d want to hang out.”

“You want to spend your Saturday with me?”

“Well, Kensi mentioned you had some hard decisions to make. Figured a day out in the ocean might take your kind of things.” Eric held up a tub of board wax, and shrugged. “What do you say?”

“I’ll grab a board and some shorts,” Deeks answered.

***

An hour later, they had paddled a couple hundred yards out from the shore. Deeks never minded the solitude of the ocean, but it was nice to have a companion. Especially since Eric knew what he was doing.

“Thanks for suggesting this, man. Did we surf a lot before?” Deeks asked, squinting to watch another surfer off in the distance.

“Sometimes. And it wasn’t exactly an entirely altruistic offer,” Eric admitted. Looking down, he shrugged a little self-consciously and dragged his hand through the water. “I’ve missed you. We didn’t always get a chance to hand out a lot outside of work, but we were pretty close. Hopefully we still are.”

“I hope so too.”

After a pause, Eric gave Deeks an expectant look. “So, what has the metaphorical weight of the world on your shoulders?”

“I have a career opportunity which is a lot different than what I anticipated. I also wouldn’t be in the field anymore,” Deeks said. He didn’t add that the fieldwork was out of the picture regardless of his final decision.

“Oh wow. Congratulations.” Eric paused to examine Deeks’ face. “I think?”

“It’s a good thing,” Deeks agreed cautiously. “Not everyone agrees. Mainly my mom. And deep down, I keep wondering what everyone else in my life will think when it’s not what they expected. It might look like I’m giving up. Or chosing another side.” Deeks spun in a half-circle to face Eric directly. “What would you do?”

“Well, given a very limited amount not details, I would say, if taking the job will make you happy and doesn’t violate your standards, then it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Whatever you do, you’re going to be amazing at it.”

“That’s putting a lot of faith in me,” Deeks managed, feeling unexpectedly touched by Eric’s comment.

"They always come back, Owen. Until one day they don't."

💓💓

"I'm not giving up" - Eric Beale x reader 

You stood at the bottom of the stairs, your bag slung over your shoulder after Hetty had just debriefed you in the mission you would be embarking on without contact from your team. Your first solo mission, all your team knew was that you were going to be gone for a while. More importantly, you're looking up at the man you had spent the last three years fighting for. He was about to follow the team into the ops centre

“Eric?” you call out, he does his awkward little shuffle back to the top of the stair and smiles down at you

“Yeah Y/N?” he asks

“I’m not giving up on us okay?” you state and he nods, a promise in his smile that you can see and that’s what you take with you as you send a smile and give a small wave to him before walking out of the building.

NCIS: Los Angeles (2009-2023)

14 Seasons ; 323 episodes