Fic: A Promise Should Last Forever (NCIS Los Angeles; Kensi/Deeks)
Title: A Promise Should Last Forever
Characters/Pairings: Marty Deeks, implied Kensi/Deeks
Relationship Status: friends with feelings
Genre: character study, romance, episode related
Spoilers: 4x17 Wanted
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~550
Rating: G
Summary: He had heard revelations described as something that hits you when you least expect it. To Deeks it was more like the soft click of something that slides into place.
Author's Notes: Just a little something to let out all the feelings from the latest episode. Title from the song "Promises" by Badly Drawn Boy.
When Kensi asked him to promise not to die Deeks didn't say he couldn't. They both knew nobody can make that kind of promise, and especially not someone in their line of work. Part of him stubbornly refused to acknowledge that fact out loud, because he wanted to be able to promise her. So he did. And then, just because he couldn't help himself, he asked her to keep his cryogenically frozen body with her if he died in the line of duty. He knew he was basically telling her he would never want to leave her, that even dead he would still want to be with her. The thought should have been scary for him - the fact that he was so attached to someone - but it was oddly reassuring, as if she grounded him. As if with her he had finally found his place.
She laughed, which made him happy and drove the tears away from her eyes. He liked making her laugh.
"You smell like sunshine!" he shouted after her, because he had been thinking about it all day. "And gunpowder." He added almost to himself, "Two of my favorite things."
He had heard revelations described as something that hits you when you least expect it. To Deeks it was more like the soft click of something that slides into place. It felt right. Maybe because a part of him knew already, or maybe because he was simply ready to accept it.
The day had started off so well, with their usual banter and teasing. He wished he knew why she had thought of asking him those questions and found himself suddenly hoping there was some kind of reason behind it. Babysitting Snyder had been unexpectedly fun, too. They had been absolutely on fire, playing off of each other seamlessly. Until of course Snyder had ruined everything mentioning his partner.
"Just be happy that she's your partner and not your girlfriend."
It had stung. He had pretended - even to himself - that it hadn't, but it had. The thought of Sobatino hitting on Kensi had been unbearable, so much so that he'd had to interrupt them at the first chance he got. She'd thought he was being ridiculous but it didn't matter, because later he got the bad guy to collaborate with them all by himself and Kensi had been worried for him. Hugging her and inhaling her scent had been like coming home. It had also allowed him to make a point, and was lucky enough that Kensi couldn't have noticed or she would have probably hit him.
He had been in denial about his being territorial and of course it made sense that Kensi herself had been his undoing. Seeing her about to cry at the thought of losing him - the fact that she even allowed him to see her that way - ripped away the lies he had been telling himself and left only the bare truth. It wasn't painful, it was freeing.
And now he was standing there, alone in the boat shed, knowing full well that it had all meant something. That Kensi meant everything to him. He wasn't sure what to do about that but he was sure about one thing, he was going to keep his promise.
He was never going to leave her.