Writing Deeks: Loyal Densi

Another distinguishing characteristic of Densi’s relationship is their incredible loyalty to one another. Their hard-won trust and commitment, and their faith in each other, make the couple an appealing subject for fan fiction writers.

“Kensi, I haven’t signed them because I’m not good enough!” It’s the complete honest truth; his father knew it, his teachers knew it, and LAPD knew it. Now that he’s about to be the father of a child, he’s not even sure he’d be good enough for this. “I’m just a cop, Kens.”

Kensi stops, turns around, and walks right up to Deeks. In a low voice, she says, “You haven’t been a cop in almost three years, you do know that right? The moment you came to us, you were done being LAPD. The kid James from the Roecher case from last year- when he asked why you were called Detective unlike everyone else, what did you say?”

Deeks remembers the little boy with brown eyes, blinking curiously at him. “I’m a cop with superpowers.”

“And that’s a whole lot better than ordinary,” Kensi runs a hand through her partner’s hair and Deeks can see that it gives her butterflies in her stomach. He won’t ever tell her that it’s step 1 in his super kinky fantasy that’s been brewing in his head for years.

One of the wonderful things about Deeks and Kensi’s relationship is that we’ve gotten to watch it grow. The trust we see now took time to build. Jericho Steele points to a key moment early on as illustrative of their evolving relationship. Deeks has “lived and worked by himself for so long, when he lets others in, it’s a big deal and should be treated as such,” he observes. “When he let Kensi hold his gun [in ‘Bounty’], that was a big step for him as a member of their pairing and Kensi was intuitive enough to see that and treat it with respect.”

Belle Walker observes how their loyalty makes them fiercely protective of each other. “I love their unending loyalty to each other,” she says. “Deeks can poke fun at Kensi until she’s ready to shoot him, but if a suspect even makes one derogatory comment to her, he’s right there defending her. And even though Kensi seems to delight in causing Deeks much physical discomfort whenever possible, she can switch to ‘protector’ mode in zero seconds flat if anyone else seems inclined to do him harm.”

“You really need to stop doing this,” she said lightly, covering her emotion at seeing him incapacitated again.

“What’s that?”

“Getting yourself shot,” she clarified. “It’s not good for you, you know.”

 

Deeks inhaled another deep breath, shifting a little in the hospital bed. “Maybe you should tell that to the guys who keep shooting me.”

“Maybe my gun already did.”

 

He didn’t doubt that.

Our authors see multiple layers in the Densi loyalty. imahistorian looks at it in terms of their broader dedication not just to each other, but to their job. She likes, “Their loyalty. To each other and to doing their best and working as hard as possible to do what needs to be done.” Writing about the dangerous job they do brings with it its own narrative benefits. “They also work in a job field where their lives are often in danger, emotions are heightened, which can result in the extremes of happiness and despair, which allows for all sorts of dramatic storytelling and angst,” imahistorian explains. “The sky is truly them limit for them.”

Jessica237’s described her Densi as able to rely on one another in tough times. “My Densi, romantic or otherwise, are partners, and no matter what, they’re not going to give up on each other… they’re everything to one another,” she says, “with or without romance attached. That particular line from Deeks at the end of ‘Ascension’ is my Densi – they are each other’s safe place. And while they’re both certainly strong on their own, the fact that they can turn to each other when that strength falters is what makes them them to me.

Sweet Lu’s favorite Densi trait is that, “Whether they are in a physical relationship or not, their commitment as partners is strong and unwavering.” thepixiesmademedoit also loves their loyalty and trust, but worries about it at the same time: “…as noted in ‘Three Hearts,’ that drive to do almost anything for each other could one day get them into trouble if they don’t monitor where the line of crossing is. Where’s the cutoff point? At what point do their hearts rule their heads?”

He sighed and reached up to place his hand on top of hers on his chest. “My job is to have your back and that’s what I was doing today. No one told me I had to do that. Hell, I didn’t even think about whether or not I should do it. I just did it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

She looked at both of their hands placed over his heart and seemed to struggle to find her voice. She looked back up at him and said softly, “You could have died.”

Again he blurted out what was on his mind before he thought it through, “I would die for you Kens.”

The look in her eyes was one of confusion but also of shock and something else he couldn’t quite place.

Whether a story focuses on Deeks and Kensi in the early stages of becoming Densi, or shows them much further along, that bedrock of trust remains. ZBBZL has written “friendship/romance pieces where they are not a couple, but the love and care is definitely there.” ZeGabz explains how her writing for the pair has evolved. “As their relationship has deepened, I’ve tried to capture that… as much as possible,” she says. “A few summers back, I wrote a little drabble that was set in Season 2. If you compared it to some of my more recent episode tags, you’d see that the interactions between the characters- the dialogue, the thoughts- are much more loaded. There’s more history, and deeper feelings. It’s less about the sexual tension and more about the romantic tension.”

Tess DiCorsi compares the Densi trust to another television couple. She explains, “I saw an interview with Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler about the Coach/Mrs. Coach relationship on ‘Friday Night Lights.’ It was explained to the two actors that while the relationship would have its ups and downs, they were in this together. There weren’t going to be any affairs, any break-ups or threats of divorce. They were always going to figure out a way to work it out. That’s what I’m going for– not the Coach/Mrs. Coach relationship but none of these petty jealousies with someone like Talia or expecting things to end badly.

“What makes my relationship with Kensi unique, special, whatever,” he mused. “Being strapped in that chair, it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Shitty childhood, living in my car for half a semester in college, spending 83-days undercover as a child molester- all better. By a lot. I wanted to die. It had to be better than where I was. I gave Sam and Michelle everything I had to keep her safe so I had nothing left. I was done. And I was strapped to that goddamn chair, marinating in this mix of pain and blood and trying to forget what’s left of the inside of my mouth when Kensi came to me. I thought I was safe. I thought I was getting out of there and it was over. But no. Kensi asked me to stay there. And I did. I wouldn’t have done that for Callen or Hetty or Granger or you. Sorry. I wouldn’t have done it for anyone but her. She asked and I did it for her. That’s what makes our partnership unique. If she needs me, if she needs me to do something, I’ll do it if she asks. Because if someone that amazing, that awesome has faith in me, trusts me, maybe I’m someone worthwhile.”

Banter, chemistry, trust and loyalty. Great components with which to build a relationship. Next week we’ll begin a multi-week look at that relationship. We’ll start by talking to the writers who enjoy the journey over the destination. The ones who write Deeks and Kensi in the earliest stage of their relationship, before they get together, when the question is… “Will they or won’t they?”

---

Want to Read More?

To find the stories quoted above, follow these links:

aslycsi1315, “Lessons”

Belle Walker, “Keeping Promises”

Kadiedid, “Please Don’t Go”

Tess DiCorsi, “Every Day I Write the Book”

We also asked each writer to recommend a short story they thought best represents their Densi. Two writers named stories that feature a particularly loyal Densi.

Bamie02 named her story “Personal Demons” (hurt/comfort). She says, “It’s set immediately after Kensi’s rescue and it showed things we didn’t see on the show, like the way both Kensi and Deeks battled with their torture and how they moved past it. It didn’t skate over everything they way the TV show did.”

Jessica237 describe her story “Surfacing” (romance/angst) this way: “’Surfacing’ is my Densi… Deeks is there, even when Kensi swears she doesn’t want him to be… [The story] sees her… going to him, because while she may not be able to admit it out loud, there’s a part of her that needs to see him, to be with him. She seeks him out and while she will always be his tough partner, his favorite Badass Blye, she feels safe enough with him to break down and grieve for something she’s never really let herself grieve for, while letting Deeks truly be her partner in every sense of the word– he’s her rock, he’s there when she needs him, he knows what she needs without her ever saying a word.”

Or, go back to the previous Writing Deeks, Bantering Densi.

---

A special thanks to @thewingsofnight for creating the wonderful artwork.