Highs and Lows: Drabble 3/23/23

“This can’t happen again,” Deeks said, shaking his head as he stared somewhere between the TV and wall. He cradled a wine glass in one palm, his other hand resting on Kensi’s knee. “Sills coming here was way too close.”

“I know,” Kensi agreed grimly. “But I don’t know that there’s a whole lot we can do. I mean, we already have the best security system in place, cameras all around, and all of our documentation listed under aliases. Unfortunately, we can’t control everyone who has access to that information.” She shuddered. “Thank god I was there and not Roberta.”

“We need to tell Rosa,” Deeks decided. “We need to tell her everything that happened in the past two days and explain exactly what kind of danger she might be in. Just knowing that our jobs are risky and relying on hiding her away every time something pops up isn’t going to cut it anymore. The danger literally came to our doorstep this time.”

“You’re right.” Kensi’s capitulation surprised him and she sighed, rubbing her palms over her eyes. She tucked a leg under her, twisting to face Deeks. “Rosa was pushing me to tell her the truth today before Roberta came. She said she’s old enough to handle it.”

“As much as we might like to shelter her, she’s not wrong, Kens. She deserves to know what’s going on.”

They sat back, focused on their own thoughts while they waited for Rosa to come home. Once they confirmed that the threat was contained, Roberta had taken Rosa out to the mall and then dinner as a small compensation for her missed night out with Steven.

“You know, despite the danger, I suppose this wasn’t the worst day ever,” Deeks mused.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I finally settled my tab with Whiting. We’re even. I’m finally done with IA and she has nothing to hang over my head. And, it seemed like she and Rountree came to some kind of an agreement.”

“Thank god for that,” Kensi murmured, arranging herself so her legs draped over Deeks’ thighs. “I never expected her to come to you for help, but I guess it makes sense.”

“Why, because I was the only person not actively trying to arrest or frame her for murder?”

“No. Because of your integrity and commitment to justice. Given your history, anyone else would have turned her away, but Whiting knew you wouldn’t. She trusted you to put your differences aside to help her.”

“Maybe I just didn’t want to prolong the interaction,” Deeks suggested.

“Oh please, babe. You should have seen your face when you guys were ribbing each other. You were enjoying every second of it,” Kensi said.

“Oddly enough, I did.” He smirked. “Whiting’s never going to be sunshine and rainbows, but she’s changed. She’s… I don’t know, maybe less cynical.”

“So, what I’m hearing is that you’d like to spend more time with her.”

“Oh god no!” Deeks said, pulling a face. “I think once or twice a year, hopefully without the addition of a manhunt, is more than enough.”

Kensi snorted, checking her phone, which had just chimed. “Rosa says they’ll be home in ten minutes.”

“You ready for this talk?”

“Mm, I might need another glass of wine first,” she said, reaching for the bottle.

“Ah, the joys of parenting,” Deeks sighed, allowing a little smile.

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A/N: I decided to approach this drabble as a kind of summary of Kensi and Deeks’ day, both the good and bad. So it’s not terribly angsty, but still addresses some of the difficult issues that cropped up.