#lawyer Deeks
Text
A/N: I swear I was working on this chapter before I got that anon ask today, but it just encouraged me to finish it more quickly.
***
In Miss Blye’s Class, Part 30
Kensi spent the night fuming after she left Deeks’ house. After meeting Monica, she perfectly understood why he’d been so out of sorts. She’d only spent a few minutes with his ex and had to resist the urge to throw something. She could only imagine how difficult it was to deal with her snide comments and manipulation for hours at a time.
She didn’t know what Monica would tell Deeks, if anything, though he’d like wonder where the coffee mysteriously appeared from. Over the course of the evening, she picked up her phone half a dozen times to call or text Deeks, but ultimately decided not to. Deeks had enough on his plate without her adding more drama. She’d just have to hope that Monica didn’t try to paint her in a bad light, and if she did, that Deeks could see through the lies.
When she got to work the next morning, Nell took one look at her face, and immediately got out her stash of chocolate, offering Kensi the meerkat decorated jar. Kensi took three Reese’s and started setting up for the day. She’d been too distracted last night to prep as much as she should have so now she’d have to rush to get things ready before the first bell.
“Ok, spill. You walked in here looking ready for murder,” Nell said, making herself at home in Kensi’s desk chair.
“I went to surprise Deeks with some coffee, but when I got there he wasn’t home. But Monica was,” Kensi explained tightly.
“Oh crap, what happened?”
“Let me see. She said she’d been wanting to meet me, accused me of being jealous, and told me all the things she knows about me and Deeks.” She dropped a wipe off writing page at each spot at one of the round table, then tore the wrapper off a chocolate and shoved it in her mouth. “And then she had the audacity to say she’s just looking out for him,” she ranted, slamming a basket of markers in the middle of the table. “Looking out for him would have been, I don’t know, coming to see her son more than one every year or so. Or maybe not just up and leaving her family.”
Kensi turned around, hands on her hips to face Nell. She was slightly gratified to see Nell’s stunned expression.
“Oh my god, that’s insane. What did Deeks say?” Nell asked.
“I didn’t tell him.”
“Why the hell not?!” Nell shouted, then seemed to remember where they were, and lowered her voice. “He needs to know how crazy this woman is.”
“I’m pretty sure he knows,” Kensi hedged. Nell gave her an unimpressed look. “Fine. I didn’t want to bug him with it. Monica was infuriating and has zero sense of boundaries, but she didn’t actually do anything truly terrible. He’s dealing with enough as it is.”
“He’d still want to know,” Nell insisted.
“You’re probably right. I need to cool down a little more before I make any decision though. Deeks does not need to hear the rant you just did.”
“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” Reaching into the candy jar, Nell tossed Kensi another piece. “And in the mean time, I could have Eric delete all her online information and presence. He wouldn’t leave a trace,” Nell offered, with a focused, slightly unnerving stare that scared Kensi a little bit. “It’s not obvious and hard to track. ‘Oh, none of your credit cards are working and no one knows who you are? That’s odd.’”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Kensi said quickly, and Nell shrugged, checking her watch.
“Well, the offer is always open if you change your mind. I have to go set up watercolor stations. The first graders are making coffee filter fishies today.”
“Cute. Thanks for listening to me rant.”
Nell gave Kensi a hug, adding in an extra squeeze. “Anytime.” When she pulled back, she fixed Kensi with a serious look. “Talk to Deeks.”
“I will.”
Smiling in approval, Nell headed for the door in her usual swirl of skirts.
“Oh, and just to reiterate, that is a complete no on the digital erasing!”
“You’re no fun!” Nell called back from down the hall.
***
“No, that is not a satisfactory offer,” Deeks muttered to himself, setting the proposed contract for a new client aside, and grabbing a pen.
“Deeks, just who I was looking for.”
He didn’t need to look to know that Talia would be leaning halfway through his door.
“Not in the mood today, Talia,” he said shortly.
“Aw, are things not all sunshine and rainbows in Marty and Kensi land?” she asked. Deeks odd look up now, and smiled tightly.
“Our relationship is just fine, thanks for asking. Now, I have like ten contracts to review today, so I could spare your usual charming presence.”
He knew he was being unnecessarily rude, even to Talia, who thrived on getting him to react. His patience was at an all time low after spending increasingly more time in Monica’s company over the week though.
Instead of taking the hint, Talia grabbed a spare chair, dragging it right next to his. She spun it around to sit backwards, resting her forearms on the back.
“Wow, you really are out of sorts. You haven’t been this cranky since you first started, and definitely not since you met the teacher,” she noted, tiling her head to observe him. “Hm, bloodshot eyes, bad mood, doesn’t want to talk…did you have a bad surf?”
Deeks huffed out an irritated laugh. “No.”
“They ran all out of fish tacos at your favorite truck.”
“No. Are you done?”
“Definitely not. I’ll keep going until you either tell me or I guess right.”
Sighing, Deeks pressed his palms over his eyes. He did not have the energy for this. “My ex-wife is back in town after no contact for over a year, and now she seem to be trying to rebuild her relationship with Caleb. So naturally he’s a mess, I’m a mess, and she seems to be having the time of her life.” He finished by blowing out a noisy breath. “Sorry. That was a lot.”
Talia shook her head, looking angry. “Don’t apologize. I’d be mad too. Who does your ex think she is waltzing in and trying to insert herself back into your life?” she demanded.
Deeks turned his head to squint at her, vaguely surprised the intensity of her response. “Wow, I had no idea you felt so strongly about my dysfunctional personal life.”
Talia jabbed a finger at him. “Hey, the only one who gets to torture you, is me. Plus, I find your relationship with the teacher adorable.”
“Wonderful.”
“So where’s she staying? Not with you I hope.”
“Thank god, no,” Deeks said with a shudder. “I honestly don’t know and don’t care. I learned the first time she came back that it’s best to keep as much as a separation as possible. But, she’s been coming over for dinner or visits every couple days.”
“Do you have visitation rights set up?”
“Nah, I have full, uncontested custody. I’m letting the visits happen for as long as Caleb wants them.”
“I hate flighty parents,” Talia said darkly, adding to Deeks’ raised eyebrow. “I had an uncle like that. Give me just five minutes alone with your ex. I’m trained in jiujitsu, karate, taekwondo, and good old knock-down-drag-out fights,” she informed Deeks with a significant nod.
“Good to know. You worry me sometimes,” Deeks commented lightly. “Also, how have you not been arrested before?”
“Hey, there’s a reason I became a lawyer.”
“Lovely. I think I’ll pass on that for now.”
“Suit yourself,” Talia said, slapping her thighs with her palms.
“You know, it actually helped talking to you,” Deeks said, surprising himself by admitting it. “Thanks.”
“Of course. It’s no fun messing with you when you’re already in a bad mood,” she told him. Because of course she couldn’t just take a compliment. “As repayment though, you will be buying me lunch today.”
“I think I can handle that,” Deeks sighed. Talia nodded in approval.
“Oh, and just in case you need an outside perspective, I’m always happy to talk over the legal side of all this,” she added. “Totally on the down low though. I can’t have people thinking I’m friendly.”
“I won’t tell a soul,” Deeks promised, smiling for the first time all morning.
***
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the parallel of Kensi and Deeks each getting advice and a listening ear from a friend. This version of Talia is certainly a lot more helpful and less handsy than in canon or my previous interpretations.
#ncis la fanfiction#marty deeks#kensi blye#densi#Nell#Talia#teacher Kensi#lawyer Deeks#self-indulgent writer#friendship#in Miss Blye’s Class#part 30#teacher au#ejzah fanfiction
16 notes
·
View notes
Text
I talk a big game about never forgive never forget but please do rest assured that I, in fact, do never forgive and never forget
looking at you, shane brennan and joe sachs, for the absolute trash that drive (ncisla, 4x11) was
@justpeachy22 @sunshineandsciencebabies can you sense I’m still being bitter or-
#Angèle babbles#it's been 9 years#the hatred might have been simmering#laying low#but it's still there#rereading old fic of mine and honest to god this was some of the worst hour of tv ever???#a complete disrespect to deeks???#kensi acting like a total bitch???#should have been more deeks-centered but ultimately he was pushed aside and mistreated#and left alone for his birthday#we finally had lawyer!deeks and they all acted like he was dumb and bad at it#NEVER FORGIVE#NEVER FORGET#AS LONG AS I SHALL BREATHE
4 notes
·
View notes
Note
i'm confused about the icj ruling. people are saying they didn't call for a ceasefire but didn't they say to stop harming the people of gaza both physically and mentally?
i reblogged/posted a few opinions from Palestinian lawyers and analysts and basically some are saying "this is very strong language for a ceasefire/legalese for a ceasefire" (Lamis Deek for example says this and I tend to trust her about lawyer stuff re:Palestine — click).
A lot of people in Gaza themselves though really feel discouraged from this which is totally valid and fair and I don't think we should discount their viewpoint (i reblogged a post by @bringmemyrocks about this). Many people were hoping it would put an immediate end to everything, but it really depends on Israel right now to implement the demands and... we all know they won't do that unless there are consequences lol.
So I think the biggest issue is that it will take a month before concrete steps are actually taken if at all and many people are quite pessimistic this will happen because of previous track records and people are dying NOW rather than later. Either way, we gotta keep resisting *shrug*.
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
Whumptober, Day 2
Prompt- Day 2- "They don't care about you."
NCIS: Los Angeles
A/N: Late start!=]
—---
"Kade King- that name mean anything to you?"
Marty Deeks stops in his tracks, barely through the threshold of the Admiral's office. He hadn't expected anything remotely close to this question at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning- hell, he hadn't expected more than 'a 'sign this paperwork and then go back home to your girls' or a 'my bad, I missed dialed'.
Not the Admiral dressed in a black tux, LAPD Commissioner Imani James and a question about that man.
Ex- detective Kade King, also known as current inmate#6395 at Twin Towers Correctional Center in Los Angeles.
Kilbride sits down in his office chair and leans back, emitting a squeak from the chair. "When was the last time you spoke to King?"
Deeks glances between Commissioner James and the large, weathered LAPD file sitting on her lap. "The last time I talked or looked the man in the eye was 2010. It was for his trial….Hetty gave me the day off and….why? King got twenty-five to life for rape, bribery and second degree attempted murder. "
"Attempted murder against you," Commissioner corrects. She's around his age with a cold expression across her face as she continues, "Investigator Deeks, as I know you have a newborn at home, I'll get to the point. King has information about the Skorpios crew and he won't tell anyone other than you."
Deeks' eyes flicker over to the Admiral, also displaying an impassive although grumpy expression. "King got twenty to life, meaning his minimum for parole is 2030. What could he possibly get from bartering? He's not getting out early unless he breaks out- elopes- escapes? Don't they all mean-"
"Investigator Deeks!" Kilbride calls out. He scowls when Deeks freezes mid-rant. "A driver is downstairs to take you to Twin Tower Correctional. Take the time to review everything that's happened with King and maybe review your last interaction."
No need to review that day, Deeks thinks as Kilbride and the Commissioner share a glance. I've never forgotten.
—------
King is waiting, without a lawyer, when Deeks arrives .
Deeks slides past a bored looking Correctional officer and enters interview room #4 to face the sixty-one year old King. The man, once 5'8 and yet bulky and quick on his feet, leans back as far as he can with his wrists cuffed to the table. He's a little rounder now with his cold green eyes and scar hidden under his beard.
"Look who the cat dragged in," King jokes. He scans Deeks from head to toe and snorts, "You haven't aged a day."
"Why am I here?" Deeks snaps. He crosses his arms and peers down at King. "Scratch that- why am I here at 7:15 in the morning?"
King scoffs, glances over towards the barred window in the right corner of the room and mutters, "You remember the last time we saw each other?"
When you'd glared at me across the courtroom, Deeks recalls silently. The memory of sitting in the courtroom and feeling the anger resonating off of the ex-detective during sentencing.
"I hereby sentence you to twenty years to life, Mr. King, for the rape of Madison Nikalov, bribery and the attempted murder of a LAPD officer-"
King slams his both palms on the table, jolting Deeks out of the memory and back into the interrogation room where King is shaking his head at him.
"Still an idiot-"
"One- it's Investigator," Deeks huffs in annoyance and then asks, "Does Skorpios have a target?"
King ignores the question and points at Deeks' right leg. "How's the leg?"
Another memory flashes across Deeks' mind- King, charging at him after receiving the news that the officer who'd reported King for his crimes, was Deeks. No one had tried to stop King as he'd tackled Deeks to the ground, grabbed the closest sharpest object and-
"By the way you walked in here, I'm guessing my little cut didn't do much damage," King continues. He cocks his head to the right and Deeks can feel the man's eyes linger on Deeks' neck.
Deeks bites down on the inside of his cheek and thinks, Slicing my leg isn't a cut, you jackass. You gonna call you trying to strangle me as a snuggle?
"And when I-"
The Investigator holds up a hand. "I'm going to stop you right there, King. I am not here to share our feelings and catch up like old friends, especially-" He pushes himself off the wall, "- if it's for you reminisce on you trying to kill me for telling the truth-"
"After all these years, you still think you're special," King sneers. He leans forward across the table as far as he can go. "Good. That makes this so much more fun."
Deeks shakes his head, "The hell does that mean?"
"You know when I found out that you'd become a Fed, I'd been in disbelief…I thought I had taught you that you are a traitor and can't be trusted. But then I thought, NCIS would figure that out with their fancy government checks and big brains-"
"Stop-"
King's eyes darken as he smirks, "What makes you think NCIS won't throw you to the wolves at the drop of a hat? They don't care about you, Deeks- I thought I made that clear. "
"And I'm done." Deeks turns on his heels to walk off before King holds up a hand and mutters, "Fine."
King slides a crumpled piece of paper from the sleeve of his right arm and holds out the crumpled piece of paper.
"What is this?" Deeks mutters and takes the paper. He unfolds the paper and feels a chill run down his spine at the dated printed image of a middle eastern woman, early twenties, grinning in front of an unrecognizable building. Below the picture are two handwritten names, the first one being- Talia Amin.
"She's the daughter of Bahrain NCIS Station Chief Sayed Amin and about now," King twists his left wrist as far as he can in handcuffs, "he'll call his little sunshine and realize that she isn't traveling with her girlfriends around the capital."
Deeks examines the handwriting that scribbles a second name- his own.
"And in about an hour, Amin will get an email with one simple easy request to get his little girl-"
The Investigator doesn't need to hear the rest. Everything connects- the random call from the prison, the reminiscing and now the note-
A father will do anything to protect his child. Even if it means trading a life to get them back.
"My life for hers," Deeks concludes aloud. "I'm a bargaining chip."
King's smile widens like a Cheshire cat. "Told you it'd be fun."
-------‐-
A/N: Part 2?
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
A/N: Happy all-in day everyone! These two fools have now been together for nine years. Set December 2024.
***
We Just Get Better Every Year
“Oh, that sushi was amazing,” Kensi sighed, flipping back on the hotel bed with a happy sound. The mattress dipped, and a second later, Deeks pressed against her left side.
“Worth traveling three hours and a weekend away from home?” he asked, settling his hand on her opposite hip.
“Definitely.”
Her response was so swift, Deeks chuckled. Some things never changed. Thankfully.
Turning onto her side so they faced each other, Kensi shifted closer, her lips brushing his. “Thank you for planning all this,” she murmured. “It’s the best anniversary celebration I could ask for.”
“It wouldn’t have been possible without Rosa agreeing to take care of the twins for us,” he pointed out.
“She’s amazing,” Kensi agreed. “Not just because of that.”
“Nope. We’re lucky to be her parents. Even if she has picked up your messiness and eats all the M&Ms out of the trail mix.” Kensi huffed at his comment, but didn’t protest. “Speaking of, we should probably give Rosa a call before it gets too late.”
“Mm, that’s a good idea.” While he grabbed his phone and dialed, Kensi pushed herself up on her forearms.
“Dad, is everything ok. I didn’t expect to hear from you,” Rosa answered after three rings.
“Hey, yeah, no, nothing’s wrong. We’re just checking in to see how you guys are,” Deeks said. Kensi leaned on his shoulder, close enough that she could hear Rosa over the speaker.
“We’re doing fine,” Rosa answered, a smile in her voice. “Caleb and Sophia just finished eating, they’re playing with that ball popper thing, and then I’m getting them ready for bed.”
“We have complete faith in you,” Kensi assured her. “Since this is the first time we’ve been away overnight, we just want to make sure nothing unexpected happened.”
“Like Arkady hiding out from the inevitable FBI raid.”
“Deeks.” Kensi shook her head at him, laughing in amused exasperation.
“I’m glad it’s going well. And thank you again for offering to hold down the fort, so to speak,” Deeks told her. As expected, Rosa brushed his thanks off.
“Guys, I told you I want to do this. I love spending time with Sophia and Caleb. Now, stop wasting your time talking to me.”
“I think we’ve been dismissed,” Kensi joked. Have a good night, kiddo. And don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.
“Yes, Mom. See you on Monday.”
Deeks hung up, setting his phone back to the side. When he laid back down, Kensi curled up against him once more, wriggling one of her legs between his.
“Crazy to think we’ve been doing this for ten years,” Deeks said into the quiet. Kensi nodded against his shoulder, her breath wafting over his neck.
“A lot has changed since then.”
“Yeah, I’ll say. We’re married, I’m a lawyer again, your training new agents, and we’ve got three kids.”
Kensi was silent for a few moments; her fingers idly traveling from his to his chest and back again.
“Do you think it’s a change for the better?” she asked eventually. Deeks leaned back enough to see her face.
“A thousand percent,” he said immediately. “I mean, we were pretty great then, but 2014 Kensi and Deeks have nothing on current Kensi and Deeks. Now we have a family, I think we’re happier than we were then…it’s everything I ever wanted.” He nudged Kensi gently. “What about you?”
“It’s everything I’ve ever wanted too,” she said, propping herself up on his chest. “Even if I didn’t realize it when I suggested we be brave.” She dipped her head, kissing him.
It quickly increased past the peck Deeks expected, Kensi’s fingers moving down his chest to unbutton his shirt.
“Mm, I thought you wanted to nap after dinner,” he reminded her, even as he slipped his fingertips under the waistband of her pants.
“I got my second wind.” Kensi nipped at his neck. “And I’m not wasting a minute of our time without interruption.”
“Happy anniversary,” Deeks muttered before Kensi pulled his mouth back to hers.
***
A/N: I debated whether or not to have Rosa call Kensi and Deeks’ something other than their names. I figure she might decide to call them mom and dad a couple years after being part of the family.
#densimber 7.0#densimber 2023#densimber day 15#ncis la fanfiction#densi#all in day#fluff and romance#marty deeks#kensi blye#ncis la#by ejzah
19 notes
·
View notes
Photo
As he was thinking about calling it a night, Rosa walked into the living room. “Hey, I thought you went to bed about an hour ago.”
“Not really tired,” Rosa sat down next to him on the couch. “Kensi went to bed early and I thought it was a good idea.”
“Until you weren’t that tired.”
“Until I wasn’t that tired. What are you doing?”
“Reviewing material for the Continuing Legal Education class I’m taking at USC Saturday. I have to take it by the end of the year or I’ll have issues with the Bar.”
“But you finished law school.”
“A lifetime ago. But laws change all the time so the Bar makes lawyers take classes every year. Did the winter class, I missed the spring class, we were on vacation during the summer class so I’m signed up for the last class of the year Saturday.”
“Is it fun?”
Lifting an eyebrow, he told her, “Eight hours in a classroom with 45 other attorneys. It’s the lawyers version of a Taylor Swift concert.”
Rosa laughed. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Why did Kensi seem unhappy at dinner? Was it the gift?”
Deeks sighed. Julia’s early Christmas gift was a Sunday dinner surprise. It was generous, wonderful and exactly not what Kensi wanted. “Julia loves Kensi, she loves you, she surprisingly loves my Mom – didn’t see that one coming.”
“She also loves you,” Rosa assured Deeks.
“Yes, I’ve made it into the Julia Feldman circle of trust.”
“But…”
“But…Kensi and I were talking about going to Las Vegas with you during your holiday break, getting the Adele tickets and starting the New Year off right. Julia must have heard about you wanting to go from a little birdie or a regular-sized Bertie and suddenly we’re booked into adjoining suites to Julia and my Mom with New Year’s Eve tickets to see Adele.” Deeks already saw how much three Adele tickets were going to cost the night before New Year’s Eve – more than the cost of his first two cars – he could only imagine what Julia paid for five New Year’s Eve tickets. And that doesn’t even include the hotel rooms.
“You don’t want to go?”
“I want to go. I want to go with you, with Kensi, with Julia and God help me, with my Mom. I want to do Christmas and New Year’s and every other holiday with the four best women in my life because the four of you are the family I always wanted, the family Kensi always wanted.” And that Kensi deserved.
“But…”
“Between you and me – don’t tell Kensi, Julia and my Mom, promise.”
“Promise.”
“Julia should have checked with Kensi. We wouldn’t have said no,” Deeks assured Rosa, though there would have been some negotiations about who was paying for what and the size of the hotel rooms.
“The best Christmas gifts are supposed to be surprises.”
“They’re usually surprises like a bike or a new phone. Kensi just wants her Mom to understand that we want everything good for you. Kensi and I just want to know it’s coming. And yes, we’re still going. And we want to go. And we’re going to have a great time.”
“Kensi told me that she and her Mom didn’t talk for a long time.”
“True. Kensi’s parents split up and Kensi stayed with her Dad and then with an aunt.” Deeks would let Kensi tell her full story. “But they’ve been talking for a long time and really love each other.”
“She’s very nice.”
“She is. And she is thrilled you’re part of our family.”
“I’m excited about everything that’s coming up.”
“We all are. But none of that fun starts until you finish your classes and I sit with a bunch of lawyers learning about the changes in California’s criminal code,” Deeks stifled a yawn. “I think we probably should call it a night.”
Standing, Rosa asked “Can I go with you to USC Saturday? Take a look at the campus.”
“Of course. We can drive out and you can get an Uber home. Are you interested in USC?”
“Some of my friend are talking about colleges. I want to see what USC looks like.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he gave her a kiss on the forehead as she walked to her room.
Good lord, Deeks thought as he started turning off the living room lights, they were going to be on the college tour really soon.
44 notes
·
View notes
Text
They are 100% going through a checklist of things they know we want to see and just giving them to us. Thanks guys. *wipes tear away*
"It's what we do."
"Alone is overrated." HAHAHA. I was thinking about lone wolfing. And Deeks being so meta with, "Every member of our team has tried to go lone wolf." OMG! OMG! OMG!
Oh, hey, we get a nice little button for Rountree's storyline.
They offered a settlement? Your lawyer? I hope you consulted Deeks! He needs extra cash. He's gonna have a baby! Yes, we all know show. Just get to it.
16 notes
·
View notes
Text
My gawd I just came up with the best Densi time jump. They start a non-profit with the assist of Beale that helps homeless and migrants. Kensi runs the day to day and Deeks and Rosa are the immigration lawyers.
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
So this came up in timehop memories yesterday, and I just realized this one line of this article explained this reasoning 100% more than the actual episode did.
I recall us trying to figure out why Deeks couldn't still be her lawyer, but I don't ever recall us coming up with an/this answer.
Just a "hmm" moment for the day.
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
I could see Deeks becoming a lawyer that does probono work against dirty cops
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
i love seeing deeks in full lawyer mode!
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
In Miss Blye’s Class, Part 23
***
Kensi woke up surrounded by warmth, bright sunlight seeping through her closed eyelids. She turned her head to the side, pressing back into the warm body behind her.
“Morning,” Deeks mumbled against her neck, his arm around her waist tucking her more securely against him.
She twisted her head just enough to see his face. His eyes were still closed, hair the most unruly she’d ever seen it, a slight smile playing at his lips.
“Hey,” she whispered, brushing a few curls out of his eyes. His upper lip lifted in a half-smirk, and he shifted against her, reminding Kensi that neither of them had bothered to put any clothes on before falling asleep. Remnants of last night drifted back to her with the feeling of Deeks’ skin on hers, and, absurdly, she felt her skin flush at the thought.
“So, last night was…”
“Fun.” Deeks filled in for her.
“Yeah, it was,” she agreed.
“The kind of fun I haven’t had in a long time,” he continued.
She couldn’t quite get a read on his voice, so she shuffled around in his arms, until they faced each other. He didn’t look like he was suffering from overwhelming guilt, but this had been a giant step, one that he might feel differently about in the light of day.
“And here I thought you’d been having wild, passionate nights with all the St. Bridget’s staff,” she teased. She cupped his cheek, caressing the top of his cheekbone with her thumb. “You don’t regret it, do you?” She glanced down between them, as though he might have any doubts about what she was referring to.
“Absolutely not.” His response was so fast and fervent, Kensi couldn’t help grinning. He slid his hand from her waist to her hips, squeezing lightly. “I didn’t regret anything that happened in the last 22 hours. What about you? I might be a little out of practice at certain…things.”
“Not from my perspective,” Kensi disagreed. “You seem plenty skilled to me.” She slid her thumb to the left, brushing it over his bottom lip. “Especially with these.”
His mouth widened in a delighted grin, even as his cheeks tinged a dull red. “Good to know.”
“But even if hadn’t been the best sex I’ve ever had, last night still would have been wonderful.” Kensi paused a beat, not out of hesitation, but for emphasis. “Because I love you.”
Deeks’ expression softened into something more tender, and he tugged her closer. “I love you too,” he said, covering her mouth with his.
They settled into the kiss, Deeks slotting his leg between her, her hand tunneling up into his hair. Kensi groaned softly, parting her lips for him. He trailed his hand up her side, leaving a path of fiery sensation that had Kensi pressing against him more urgently.
Deeks pulled back several moments later with a breathy laugh; his chest rose and fell unevenly against hers as he dragged in deep breaths. She could have easily continued on for another round, but she was just as content to lie her with him, cuddling and making out.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, and she shrugged one shoulder.
“Depends on what you’re offering. Your gourmet dinner last night, and all the other homemade food, has ruined me for plain old pop tarts and cheerios.”
“Anything your heart desires.” He inclined his head. “As long as it’s some kind of eggs, pancakes, or French toast.”
“Mm, French toast sounds delicious,” Kensi mused, suddenly starving at the mention of food.
“Ok, let me grab some shorts and I’ll get started on it,” Deeks said. He patted her thigh affectionately, before gently shifting it off his own leg. “There’s some shirts in the bottom drawer of that dresser,” He pointed across the room. “but I’m not sure any of my pants will fit you.” He grimaced apologetically.
“Actually, I have a bag in my car,” Kensi confessed, pressing her lips together as she gave Deeks a sly side eye.
Deeks returned it with a playful smirk. “How presumptuous of you, Miss Blye. I approve.” Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he slid towards the edge of the bed, and stood, giving Kensi a nice view as he walked towards the dresser, and bent slightly to grab shorts.
“Kens?”
Her head snapped up at the sound of her name, and she found Deeks watching her with an amused grin. “I’ll grab your bag for you,” he offered, tugging on the shorts, and a shirt (which Kensi personally thought was a pity). “As much as I might enjoy it, the neighbors are pretty strict about decency laws.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Kensi called after him as he sauntered out of the room. He came back a couple minutes later with her bag and a glass of water, leaving her to wash up and change.
Kensi wasn’t certain she would sleep with Deeks last night, but when she’d gotten ready for their date, she’d figured it was best to be prepared. She was infinitely glad for it now as she quickly showered, using the eucalyptus shower gel Deeks had in his shower.
When she came down roughly 15 minutes later, she found Deeks in full cook mode. She leaned in the doorway, studying him for a moment; his hair was wet and he’d misplaced his shirt, making her think that he’d showered too.
“You know, you’re spoiling me,” she told him, crossing the rook to wrap her arms around his waist. His own hands were busy dipping slices of bread into a shallow pan of egg mixture, so he settled on a kiss, arching the bridge of her nose.
“I don’t mind. I like cooking for people,” he said. “Especially you.” He winked again, shimmying his shoulders against her.
There was a playfulness to him now that she hadn’t seen before. It had always been there, but now it felt freer, less apologetic, or like he felt he needed to hold himself back for her. She liked it.
“Well, is there anything I can do? Keeping in mind what you know about my cooking skills.”
“You want to flip the bread?” he asked, placing two slightly dripping pieces on a piping hot griddle. “Normally Caleb does it, so you know it’s a highly prestigious position.”
“Oh, then maybe I should just stick to cutting up strawberries or something,” Kensi said with mock worry. “Those seem like pretty high expectations to meet.”
“Nah, Caleb usually burns at least one piece, which is an improvement, and once melted an entire spatula. It’s still the best French toast, ever every time.”
Kensi smiled, easily imagining Caleb balancing on a stool with a pair of oven mitts, wielding a spatula with scorched pieces of toast.
Rooting around until she found a suitable utensil, she took up position at the griddle, working side-by-side with Deeks. It felt pleasantly domestic, and they had a dozen pieces made up in no time.
While she brought over the towering plate of French toast, Deeks grabbed butter, syrup, and a few other toppings. He watched her pour a ridiculous amount of syrup over her serving, but didn’t comment, letting her eat her overly sweet breakfast in peace.
“So, when Caleb and your mom be back?” she asked as she made her way through a second piece, albeit more slowly.
“They usually head back after dinner,” Deeks said. “If it’s much later than that, Caleb’s way too keyed up to sleep.”
Kensi leaned her cheek on her folded hands, smiling at the affection in his voice. “I bet you miss him.”
“I do. Though, I’ll admit he wasn’t on my mind as much as usual the last 12 or so hours. Something kept me occupied.” He slanted Kensi a wicked grin, dragging his eyes from the V of her shirt, slowly up to her lips.
Kensi squirmed, pressing her thighs together, instantly turned on by his lowered voice, the gleam in his eyes. It was ridiculous, like he’d flipped some kind of switch in her.
“So, that means we still have a good 6-7 hours to ourselves,” she concluded.
“Yeah. Why, what did you have in mind?”
“Oh, I have a few ideas,” Kensi said, dropping her hand under the table to cover his thigh. She explored the inseam of his boxers lightly, appreciating Deeks’ sharp inhale.
***
A/N: I hope this update is worth the rather long wait. Thanks for sticking with me as I continue this story.
As I’ve mentioned several times on other posts, the notification issues on ff.net have not been resolved. So, if you are subscribed to my profile or a specific story and aren’t getting email updates, I’d suggest going directly to my ff profile and looking for that specific story. It might take a couple of tries for the link to work (🙄).
#ncis la fanfiction#marty deeks#kensi blye#densi#teacher Kensi#lawyer Deeks#self indulgent author#In Miss Blye’s Class#part 23#au#fluff#romance#ejzah fanfiction
28 notes
·
View notes
Text
We ‘Previously’d with Callen wanting to propose, Sam wanting to buy a house for him and his dad, Rountree and his sister’s police brutality encounter, and Rosa and Pilar’s friendship. Sam and his dad discussing his mom and their old house was really bittersweet, and Rosa’s aunt being sick and her being threatened with deportation was heartbreaking. Kensi and Deeks asking about adoption in unison was great, Shyla and Kilbride are quickly settling into a good dynamic, and Callen and Arkady always have the best scenes (the banter, the pulling out the money, and the laugh was hilarious). I felt sorry for Rountree and Jordyn having to deal with the deposition, and Fatima’s mom having a foot injury was an interesting callback to the deepfake. Arkady being racist to Romanis shouldn’t have been amusing, and him talking to himself after Callen left was villain-like and hilarious. Sam and his dad’s back-and-forth was also hilarious (what are some synonyms?), and Densi having an actual, completely-serious conversation about adopting was so exciting. The John Doe’s lawyer showing up was an interesting twist, and Fatima worried about Rountree and Jordyn was so sweet- also ‘skunked’ sounds like a skunk just sprayed you. Chambers was kinda slimy but amusing, Fatima’s ‘No!’ was heart-wrenching, and the seconds-long shot of the on-fire car was a compelling way to end the act. Fatima and Rountree sitting together was cute, and Kilbride meditating was great, as was his and Shyla’s conversation- also taking a helicopter to avoid LA traffic was the most Kilbride thing ever. Kensi and Deeks discussing adopting Rosa and Pilar was great, and him mentioning the ‘white savior’ complex unexpectedly cracked me up. It quickly turned sour, however, when they got trapped by a bunch of white militia members. The whole shootout scene was incredible- Kilbride and Shyla’s helicopter flying around confusing everyone was great, as was Rountree and Fatima pulling up in the Porsche while he shot from the window, and all seven of them (plus Shyla) taking down the bad guys was awesome. I loved the callback to Kensi’s eating while sleepwalking, and the shots of Callen looking at the engagement ring, Kilbride relaxing in his office, Kensi and Deeks playing cards with Rosa, Fatima and Rountree watching movies in the boatshed, and Sam and his dad looking at a scrapbook was a beautiful way to end 300.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
For those who don't know, Lamis Deek is a Palestinian Human Rights Lawyer with a lot of experience in the field.
Jan 26th
392 notes
·
View notes
Text
Thinking on Your Feet
***
Fic idea kindly suggested by @mashmaiden.
***
“But is it legally wrong or just morally unacceptable? Because while both are an issue, only one is subject to legal ramifications,” Deeks said, deep in debate with Rosa over a scenario posed in one of her college classes.
They didn’t get it spend as much time together these days, so when Rosa had asked if Deeks could pick her up while her car was in the shop, he’d jumped at the chance.
“It’s definitely morally wrong,” Rosa answered, starting out slowly, but then her speech speeding up as she got into it. “Probably legally wrong since no laws were broken. Though I personally find the idea reprehensible.”
Deeks nodded in approval, a smile quirking at his lips. “A girl after my own heart. You’re going to make an amazing lawyer if you decided to go that route.”
“Thanks, but I’m not sure I’m really fit for the…cut throat aspect of it all.”
“Yeah, that kind of caused some problems for me too. Which is why I didn’t last long as a public defender,” Deeks mused. He shrugged. “You’ve still got time though, and there’s always non-criminal law like I do now.”
“That’s true.”
They were quiet for a couple minutes, the silence lasting until Deeks pulled into a speedway.
“Do you need any snacks?” Deeks asked as he waited for the tank to fill.
“I think I can wait until we get home,” Rosa said, then inclined her head. “Though some coffee would be nice. I stayed up late last night studying.”
“Yeah, I do not miss exams.” Deeks scrunched up his nose in distaste. “Here, get your coffee and can you grab me—”
“Max Gentry, I knew I recognized that voice!” a tall man growled, appearing in front of them.
Deeks had roughly three seconds to remember the name “Bart” and instinctively move in front of Rosa before his head snapped back with a brutal punch. He staggered back a few steps, raising her arm to ward off any further blows as the man shouted something else.
Deeks had a few brief encounters with him years ago, but apparently it was enough to cement Max in the guy’s mind. And not in a good way.
“He isn’t Max!” Rosa shouted, pushing in front of Deeks. “This is my dad, Jake.”
Deeks gaped at her back for a moment, squeezing Rosa’s shoulder in a silent warning to stop. Amazingly though, Bart froze in the act of throwing another punch, his hand still hanging in mid-air.
“You trying to tell me Max has a twin?” he barked out suspiciously.
Rosa started to speak again, but Deeks intervened.
“Yeah, lucky me.” Deeks wiped a trail of blood off his chin with the back of his hand, letting his arm shake a little. “Let me guess, he owes you money or something.”
“No, not exactly.” Bart’s eyes bounced between Rosa and Deeks. “You know where he is?”
“No,” Rosa answered quickly, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. Deeks couldn’t quite tell if it was an act or if she was truly afraid. “We haven’t seen him in years.”
“That the truth?”
“I wouldn’t know where to find him, and I have no reason to look,” Deeks responded, and Bart suddenly looked nervous and ready to bolt.
“Sorry about that.” He nodded to Deeks’ face.
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
With another shifty glance in their direction, Bart shuffled back a few steps, then took of at an awkward run, jumping into a battered sedan parked alongside another pump.
“Are you ok?” Deeks asked, turning to Rosa, gently holding her arms. She looked a little shaken up, but remarkably unaffected.
“Yes, I’m fine. What about you?” She reached up to touch his face, and he winced instinctively before she made any contact.
“I’ll be all right. Let’s get out of here before someone thinks of calling the police.” He was slightly surprised no one had come out to investigate, though he supposed it made a certain amount of sense.
“You’re not calling the police?” Rosa asked as Deeks quickly closed the gas tank, and nudged her to get in the truck. He pulled out of the gas station almost as fast as Bart, driving towards home.
“I’ll give Bates what I have when we get home, but right now it’s better we get away from here before there’s too many questions.” He stopped the truck alongside a park, and turned to face Rosa. “Speaking of which, what the hell were you thinking engaging with him?”
“Law isn’t the only thing that you taught me about,” Rosa said, having the nerve to smirk. “I know you and Kensi tried to shelter me from most of what you did with NCIS, but I still saw enough. It is much harder than I thought it would be to think up lies so quickly. You’ll have to help me with that.”
“Unbelievable,” Deeks muttered, stunned. “No, no, absolutely not. I’m not training you to lie and make up aliases on the spot because this isn’t going to happen again.”
“Oh please, teach me just a little bit. Kensi always says that you were the best at undercover work,” Rosa begged.
“Did you forget the part where that guy punched me?”
“So obviously I need to be prepared.” Widening her eyes, Rosa nodded convincingly.
“Fine,” Deeks allowed with a sigh. “I will teach you some techniques on the very small, and awful, chance something like this happens again.”
“And maybe how to throw knives.”
“Oh my god, I’ve created a monster.” Deeks shook his head. “You’ll have to take up the knives debate with Kensi. Who will undoubtedly have lots of questions about this.” He made a circle to encompass his face, which what started to throb.
“Oh yeah. She won’t be happy,” Rosa said with a grimace.
“Probably not,” Deeks agreed, reaching over to pat her folded hands. “Despite everything I just said, you did good today, kiddo.”
12 notes
·
View notes
Photo
NCIS: Los Angeles Season 13 Rewatch: “Genesis”
The basics: The disappearance of an ONI Officer has the team running up against Iranian intelligence agents. Callen continues to dig into his past.
Written by: Andrew Bartels wrote or co-wrote "Allegiance", "Zero Days", "The Grey Man", "Humbug", "Fighting Shadows", "Driving Miss Diaz", "Angels & Daemons", "Where There’s Smoke…", "Glasnost", "Old Tricks" "Battle Scars", "Fool Me Twice", "Warrior of Peace", "Reentry", "The Prince", "Smokescreen", "The One That Got Away"/"No More Secrets" two-parter, "Yellow Jacket", "Missing Time", "If the Fates Allow", "Red Rover, Red Rover" and "Divided We Fall".
Directed by: John P. Kousakis directed "Imposters", "Sacrifice", "San Voir" part one, "The Fifth Man", "Parley", "Inelegant Heart", "Chernoff, K.", "Active Measures", "The Long Goodbye", "Talion", "Glasnost", "Unleashed", "Party Crashers", "This Is What We Do" (episode 200), "Goodbye Vietnam", "Ninguna Salida", "The Guardian", "High Society", "A Tale of Two Igors", "Under the Influence", all of the Afghanistan scenes from "Iron Curtain Rising" to "Zero Days" in season five and all of Kensi’s injury/recovery storyline scenes from "The Queen’s Gambit" to "Sirens" in season eight.
Guest stars of note: Peter Cambor returns “MWD” as Nate Getz, Bar Paly returns from “All The Little Things” as Anna Kolchek. Both Duncan Campbell as Agent Castor and Beckett Gunderson as Young Callen are back from “Pandora’s Box”, Ashwin Gore is back from “Divided We Fall” as Akhil Ali and Milissa Sears returns from “Lost Soldier Down” as Leah Novak. Jere Burns as Arnold Baines, Layla Alizada as Dr. Roxana Jarrahi and Andrei Dolezal as Young Baines.
Our heroes: Try to find an ONI Officer while Callen mucks around some more in his past.
What important things did we learn about:
Callen: More flashbacks tie him to Katya’s trainer.
Sam: Knows the SAC for the FBI in the Middle East.
Kensi: Wants to do the right thing by Pilar.
Deeks: Visiting the Refugee Relocation Center before talking to an immigration lawyer pal.
Fatima: Fatima Khadem.
Rountree: Working Ops today.
Kilbride: Got a sexy call from Callen.
What not so important things did we learn about:
Callen: Moving.
Sam: Jogging on the beach with Kensi.
Kensi: Calling Rosa.
Deeks: Gave Rosa’s phone number to Kensi.
Fatima: Ghosting boyfriends.
Rountree: Danny Tanner-like with his dating advice.
Kilbride: Using the firing range to wash the sexy Callen call from his brain.
Where in the world is Henrietta Lange? Nobody knows but Callen has a question or two.
Who's down with OTP: Not a lot of Deeks around but he gave Kensi Rosa’s phone number. Happy wife, happy life. Like the Ali pining for Fatima.
Who's down with BrOTP: The Callen and Nate show was interesting.
Fashion review: Callen is wearing a dark shirt watching the Katya video. The following day, it is the green and blue plaid button down. Sam is jogging in a black hoodie over a white undershirt. Later he’s in a black long-sleeve heavy tee-shirt. Kensi is jogging in an off-white fleece jacket over a medium blue tee. Later in the day, she’s wearing a white henley. Fatima starts the episode working out in a red sweatshirt. Working in Ops, she’s wearing a blue and white striped shirt under a dark blue jacket. Deeks is wearing a pale purple hoodie. In the field, Fatima is wearing a concert tee-shirt under a brown sweater. Rountree is in a black sleeveless muscle tee-shirt working out. He’s wearing a brown sweater with a green jacket later in the episode.
Music: No tunes today except for a clip of a song by Googoosh.
Any notable cut scene: Two:
As Fatima changes in the relocated wardrobe dressing room, Ali fills in Fatima about Dr. Jarrahi’s work. She is working on changing mosquitos so she can help stop the spread of malaria. Her detractors think she is trying to eliminate an entire species of insects. Fatima said growing up in LA, there were no mosquitos, now the city is full of them. Ali thinks they can bond over a shared dislike for the bugs. Fatima snarks that she will then casually turn the conversation to the officer’s disappearance. This goes into the scene where Fatima models her tee-shirt for Ali, who is a bit surprised she did that. He thinks she looks cool but he doesn’t spend a lot of time with undergrads. Fatima is relieved he does not.
From the episode, at the beach, Callen is trying to explain what he did to Leah. Nate is shocked – Leah was a subject just like he was. Callen brings up her work at Homeland Security and her redacted personnel file. If she didn’t want to be found, Callen thinks his approach was better. Nate mocks Callen’s alias. Greg is the English version of Grisha.
Cut from the episode is Nate getting back on topic, asking if Callen ever learned why Leah’s file was redacted. He didn’t. Leah isn’t with Homeland anymore, she’s freelancing as a negotiator for companies dealing with ransomware issues. Her background is likely classified cyberwarfare.
Nate asks if Leah spoke about the Drona project. Callen says he and Leah had dinner a few times, he tried to ask about her past but she didn’t want to give him much. Then Callen had to cut it off. He wasn’t interested in going any further. It wouldn’t be ethical to sleep with her, especially since he’s with Anna. Nate asks about Anna, Callen says she’s good.
Quote: Kilbride: “I believe that this whole thing is Looney Tunes. If you had told me a year ago that I would be dealing with mischievous digital facsimiles of my agents trying to seduce me with prank phone calls, I'd have moved to a yurt in Mongolia, never to be heard from again, but, apparently, this is the idiotic world we have chosen to live in.”
This may be the finest rant ever uttered on this or any other program in the last year.
Anything else: Setting up the old-school projector, Callen is once again watching the Noble Maidens ganging up on one of their own. The Russian instructor can be heard saying “Seventeen”. Suddenly, the young woman is not standing up, it is young Callen. Callen has a flashback to being tested by as a child. The man is saying “finish the job” in a similar tone as the man speaking to the Noble Maidens. Anna wakes Callen up. They need to finish packing.
Asking if she recognizes the voice, Anna does not. But she is pretty sure that is Katya in the video. Anna tells Callen she was not treated that way at the Institute. Anna almost feels sorry for Katya – “Almost.” She asks if Callen ever figured out what “Pembroke” meant. Callen has a list of a few Pembrokes, including a breed of corgis, but he thinks it is the name of the instructor. They need to finish packing – there are movers coming the next day. Callen is going to watch the film one more time.
In the gym, Fatima is working the heavy bag and discussing her dating life with Rountree. He thinks she “ghosted” the guy she’s currently dating. Hasn’t spoken to him in three weeks. She tells him ghosting happens after four. After saying a little prayer, Fatima wants to know what she is doing wrong. She meets these nice guys and after a few dates, she’s out. “It’s me, isn’t it.” Rountree thinks she has trust issues. With the quality of people NCIS deals with on a regular basis, why wouldn’t Fatima have trust issues.
Rountree mentions the deep fakes boyfriend and Fatima quickly corrects him. They met once. Though Rountree thinks there was a connection, Fatima tells him it wasn’t real – she was being played. “But it felt real.” Rountree feels it messed with her head and her heart. Fatima thinks Rountree is well on his way to being a great dad like Danny Tanner. Rountree finds her real problem – “you’re a jerk.” The two laugh.
On the beach, Sam is jogging with Kensi. Kensi is talking about Pilar, who learned how to speak English by watching horror movies. Now she’s making her own movies at 14 with her phone. Rosa asked Kensi and Deeks to watch over Pilar and Kensi doesn’t want to let her down. Deeks is going to meet with the Refugee Resettlement Office before talking to a friend who is an immigration lawyer. They’re going to find out how hard it is going to be for Pilar to stay. Kensi remembers not having a safe home to go to – she wants more for Pilar. Sam knows Pilar will be fine with Kensi and Deeks watching her back, “just like Rosa was.”
Wrapping up a call, Anna tells Callen she’s going to stay with Arkady for a while. Callen reminds Anna they just signed a lease for a place by the marina. He asks if she is breaking up with him. She is not – she loves him. The last few months have been hard and since the film reel showed up, Callen is obsessed. Callen thinks the key to finding Katya is in the video – surely Anna understands that. She does but she is tired of Katya defining their relationship. They’ll take a step back, just for a little while. Callen’s phone rings – it’s the Admiral. Anna tells Callen to go, they’ll talk later. An unhappy Callen answers the phone.
In Ops, the Admiral reintroduces Fatima and Rountree to ONI Officer Akhil Ali. Rountree asks what are they being investigated for now. Nothing – Ali has been promoted to running ONI’s LA field office. His biggest area of responsibility is running the collectors – he trains Naval Intelligence Officers to meet and collect foreign assets who provide intelligence information. Ali seems impressed Fatima knows his job. Kilbride explains one of the officers has gone missing and NCIS is there to help find her. When the Admiral leaves, Ali asks Fatima for access to the system. She’s going to get him set up.
Marching down the hall, the Admiral calls to an arriving Callen to go to the fishbowl office, “now.” Kilbride has a voicemail from Callen and his desire to see the Admiral in a “sexy little sailor suit.” Callen denies making the phone call. The Admiral asks if Callen thinks he’d still be alive if he did. Vance and hundreds of other federal officials got similar calls. There were also inappropriate social media posts. Callen looks sick – NCIS CYBER was supposed to be protecting him. They were but Katya has bot accounts that are amplifying whatever she sends out. Callen thinks it all goes back to the film reel and how Katya probably wants him sidelined.
Taking a seat, the Admiral tells Callens that the deep fakes were mostly a nuisance. They are the product of a psychopathic troll. But this escalation is interfering with Callen’s ability to do his job. Callen tries to interrupt the Admiral but Kilbride plows on about Callen not being able to represent the agency. Callen asks if Kilbride really believes that. He believes the entire set-up is “Looney Tunes.” Vance is not only worried about the trouble Katya has already caused but the trouble she is looking to cause. He has asked Kilbride to remove Callen from the field until the deep fakes stop. “What if they don’t stop?” The Admiral does not have an answer.
With Sam and Kensi in the boatshed, Ali, Fatima and Rountree review the case. The missing ONI Officer is Maria Varza. She’s been a collector for six years and has cultivated a relationship with Dr. Roxana Jarrahi. Jarrahi is one of the top genetics in the world, working at The Curie Institute and MIT. Varza was working on Jarrahi, whose research is funded by groups with ties to the Iranian military. ONI wanted to see if Jarrahi’s work would lead to a genetic weapon – something that could target specific sections of DNA. An inert virus could be released that would only hurt people with a specific genetic sequence or a family or a whole race of people.
Varza was just getting friendly with Jarrahi. A planned dinner the prior night is where Varza was going to make her official offer. Ali was hoping Fatima could get access to the restaurant’s security cameras. Varza was supposed to call in this morning but didn’t. Ali tried to call Varza with no luck. He drove to her home to find the door unlocked and no Varza. Kensi wants to know if Jarrahi's relationship with the Iranian military is deeper than just funding. Jarrahi may have been collected – just not by the US.
In the firing range, a shooting Callen is joined by Nate. Nate asks how Callen is doing, he’s fine. Callen doesn’t want to talk about Katya, he wants to stop her. So does Nate, who drew up a profile on Katya. Callen’s already read profiles on Katya by both the FBI and CIA – she’s a sadist driven by revenge. Nate disagrees – she’d driven by obsession. When only plays out, like Anna, another pops up – Callen. If they could identify a new obsession, they could draw her out. Callen thinks about an old obsession he thinks he found, though Nate may think it’s crazy. Nate is not a fan of the word crazy.
Checking out Varza’s house, the place is not a mess. Kensi finds her keys right away so if she was taken, they didn’t bother to lock up the house before going. Sam thinks she may have run. Kensi asks about Callen, who says he’s fine. Sam doesn’t believe Callen. There is no computer or cell phone in the house. Rountree in Ops can’t trace the phone – it’s shut off. With only external security cameras, Varza’s car is seen pulling into her garage but the system was turned off at 2:14AM. Sam wonders if Varza took her system offline and is selling secrets. No witnesses, no cellphone, no computer – they don’t have much. Looking at Varza’s car, they have one set of computers.
An unhappy Nate just finished watching the Katya video. Nate asks Callen if he’s sure he’s heard that voice before as a child in Hetty’s version of the Institute. The KGB man was also involved in the CIA project. Callen believes that Katya was looking for the man in the video when she was stationed in the US as a spy. The film reel was her only lead. “You think I’m crazy,” Callen says to Nate, who doesn’t like the word. He switches to delusional. Nate explains that Callen could be seeing similarities in his and Katya’s upbringing. That would make the instructor sound the same. But it isn’t impossible for the instructor was KGB – the CIA took a lot from the Russians, including the Drona project from the Institute of Noble Maidens. Callen stops Nate – how does he know that the Drona program is based on a Russian program. “Admiral Kilbride told me.” That’s news to Callen. Nate is surprised the Admiral kept that secret but Callen brings up breaking into a sealed archive and how he was almost fired for that. “Since I’m half way out the door,” Callen wants to explore what the Admiral knows.
Wearing a concert tee-shirt under a brown jacket, Fatima asks Ali how she looks. He says she looks cool but he doesn’t hang around much with college coeds. Fatma would hope not. Usually, Jarrahi has lunch at the university cafeteria at 12:30PM but she’s fasting for Ramadan, as is Fatima and Ali. Ali tells Fatima is he also going to the mosque. She’s glad to hear it. Ali asked if she had plans for Eid but Fatima say she usually does something with her family.
Watching what’s going on, Rountree waits a beat before updating Fatima and Ali on Varza’s credit cards and bank accounts – nothing there to indicate she was up to something. Looking into the Varza’s car’s computer, the trunk was opened and closed at 8:16 PM around when she left the restaurant. It was opened again six-minutes before the security system was taken offline. Varza was kidnapped. They didn’t break in, they were hiding in the trunk of her car.
As the Admiral is about to go into the gun range to purge the memory of Callen’s voicemail, Callen confronts Kilbride about the Russian connection. The Admiral is not happy with Nate who broke confidentially. Nate pushes back – no patient-doctor confidentially between them. The Admiral brings up the idea of classified material but Nate pushes back again. He’s there to help Callen. Callen explains his theory about Katya looking for someone from the Drona project. The Admiral thinks Callen sounds crazy, causing Nate to flinch. Callen asks and the Admiral confirms that the Drona project was based on the Institute of Noble Maidens. The name Pembroke means nothing to the Admiral. Callen storms off.
The Admiral goes off on Nate, who instead of pulling Callen out of a rabbit hole is pushing him down deeper. Knowing Callen for years, with or without him, Nate knows Callen will see this through.
On campus, a casually dressed Ali is wearing headphones and pretend working on a computer. Fatima passes him as she approaches Jarrahi. Introducing herself as Fatima Khadem, Fatima sits down to speak to Jarrahi. Fatima is so happy to meet another Iranian scientist. Explaining that she’s graduating in a few weeks, Fatima is waitlisted for the graduate program in bio-chemistry. Jarrahi can do nothing to help Fatima with that. Ali tells Fatima that Jarrahi is a workaholic, focus on her research. Speaking glowingly of Jarrahi’s work, Fatima asks what is holding it up. “Fear.” Saying she has a lot of work to do, Jarrahi dismisses Fatima.
Ali tries to move to plan be – wealthy parents who will fund her research. Fatima pulls out her phone and starts to put in her earbuds. Googoosh, a popular Iranian singer starts playing so Jarrahi can hear. Fatima blames the Bluetooth sync. Jarrahi is a fan. Fatima has tickets to see Googoosh at the Hollywood Bowl that summer, as does Jarrahi. Fatima isn’t surprised – “Pretty sure half of Tehrangeles will be there.” Fatima has a favorite song – “Gharibe Ashena” – and hopes Googoosh sings it at the concert. “Oh, she has to. If she doesn’t, the crowd will revolt.” Fatima will lead the revolt. Jarrahi starts chatting with Fatima.
Showing Nate the files he has of the other subjects, Callen admits he hasn’t ID’d many of them. The ones he has, most are dead. Two died in action, two died by suicide. The only one alive is Leah. Nate asks if Callen has spoken to her – he has. Did she recognized the voice, Nate asks. Callen has some explaining to do.
At his desk, Deeks has his laptop opened when Kensi arrives. He’s catching up on the Varza case – “where’s Sam?” Sam is at the university as back-up. He dropped Kensi off at the office. Kensi asks about the Pilar. There is a lot for Deeks to go through. He doesn’t miss being a lawyer. Pilar’s parents were murdered by a gang and the gang threatened Pilar too. Kensi is upset for Pilar. The good news is that Pilar has a strong case for asylum. Kensi and Deeks need to find someone who Pilar can talk too about what happened. If she can be comfortable explaining what happened, it will help her case. Kensi thinks of Nate or someone who Nate could suggest. Nate sounds like a good idea to Deeks.
Rountree joins Kensi and Deeks with security cam footage from the restaurant. Varza and Jarrahi enter around 8PM. Two men are just behind them. One of the men leaves around the time Varza’s trunk was opened. The second man stayed inside to watch Varza and Jarrahi. Varza left about 8:38PM as did Jarrahi, but they did not leave together. The two men are not coming up in a facial rec search.
Nate is surprised Callen tried to trick Leah. He explains that with her redacted file, he wondered if she was hiding something. Pulling up to her home, Callen explains why he broke it off with Leah before going “oh” in recognition. Callen knocks on Leah’s door – “we need to talk.” In her backyard, Callen is playing the audio for the Noble Maiden instructor. Leah went to a special school because she had ADD. She’s stunned this is why Callen lied to her. Nate tries to cover for Callen – as an agent, it is hard for Callen to trust people. As someone who works in cyberspace, Leah doesn’t need to be told the world is full of liars. She asks them to leave. Callen asks if Pembroke means anything to her. Leah tells him to go to hell.
While Fatima and Jarrahi area walking and talking about science, Sam joins Ali who is following the women. There are no IDs from ONI on the two men who tailed Varza and Jarrahi into the restaurant. They are likely Iranian intelligence agents with non-official covers. This makes finding Varza harder.
Through comms, Sam tells Fatima to push Jarrahi harder. Talking about Jarrahi being new to LA, Jarrahi says she works all the time. She hasn’t even seen the ocean in her five months in LA. Fatima talks about the number of Iranian ex-pats in LA and Ali knows Jarrahi is lying about not knowing any. Varza’s cover was as a pharmaceutical businesswoman from Tehran. Fatima tries to weave Varza’s cover into the conversation but that tips off Jarrahi, who storms off.
The two men who grabbed Varza are now following Fatima. Sam has Ali follow Jarrahi and tells him to approach her after she’s clear of the men. As Fatima is getting into her car, the two men approach. She asks if she could help them. They order Fatima to come with them. Sam arrives saying he’d like the same thing. When he says “Federal Agents”, the men run. Sam follows one who is nearly hit by a truck. He and Sam fight. Sam wins. As Fatima chases the other man, Ali holds up his ID and tells the man to stop. He gets run over for his trouble. The man trips and Fatima keeps him on the ground. While handcuffing the second man, Fatima asks Ali about Jarrahi. She’s with campus security. Ali has a busted up nose for trying to help.
In the main part of the boat shed, Jarrahi tells Fatima and Ali that she cut dinner short because Varza said she was ONI. Varza wanting Jarrahi to spy for ONI was “the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.” She would have laughed if she wasn’t so angry. Ali says she takes money from the Iranian military, a military that is interested in genetic weapons. She claims that she does not do business with the military – any military. She’d like to help find Varza but she can’t. Jarrahi would like to leave but since they don’t know the names of the two men in interrogation right now who were following Jarrahi, it may not be safe. Besides, they are still looking for Varza.
Over comms, the Admiral has an update. As Ali brings Varza to the upstairs interrogation room, Kilbride heard from the FBI. The two men in interrogation with Sam are Iranian intelligence agents who will likely die before talking.
Back on the beach, Nate wants to look at the Drona files – maybe he can help figure out who some of the subjects were. While Nate knows Callen feels he’s back at square one, Nate believes Callen is making progress. Callen drops the bomb that Anna moved out. Nate is sorry. Callen wonders if he is ruining his life more than Katya is. Nate talks about Katya’s obsession with Callen feeding Callen’s obsession with Katya. If he stops obsessing on Katya will she do the same. Nate says no because she’s…. struggling to find the word he goes with crazy – “pure, unfiltered, bat poop crazy town.”
Callen gets a call from Leah. A few years ago, she reconnected with one of her foster moms. The woman gave Leah some personal belongings including a special ed enrollment form with an address in Cypress Park. She texted a photo of the document to Callen.
Since the two men aren’t talking, Sam wants to backtrack their movements. Kensi, Deeks and Rountree pop up on the plasma. Deeks has an idea he thinks is solid gold, Kensi is worried he’s overselling it. One of Jarrahi’s biggest funders is an Iranian-American businessman, Reza Shaheen. One of the Iranian Intelligence Agents called Shaheen that morning. Since Shaheen is out of the country, why call? According to Rountree, Shaheen is closing his LA businesses but he still has one property – a warehouse in Hawthorne. Kensi and Deeks will meet Sam at the warehouse.
At the address Leah sent, Callen and Nate are looking around. There is a sign “Plants for Sale”. Going to the back of the house, there is a man tending a number of bonsai trees – trees he’s shaped into what they are today. That’s not creepy at all. Callen stops – he recognizes the voice. The man faces Callen – he is an older gentleman. Callen remembers him as a younger man.
The man introduces himself as Arnold Baines. Callen is too stunned to talk. Nate tries to fill in, asking about a plant to buy but admitting he doesn’t know much about plants. Baines says most people don’t. If it was up to Baines, he’d teach kids about flowers in grade school. Give them a lily, let them nurture it and then take it away so the kids can watch it wither and die. Yeah, not creepy at all. Nate thinks it is a little intense for elementary school kids. Explaining that kids are tougher than people think, the children will learn the true way to respect life.
Suddenly chatty Callen asks if that is why Baines works on bonsai trees – there are comparisons to foot bonding. Baines disagrees – bonsai does not stunt growth, it encourages it. Baines even corrects the way Callen says bonsai – “it’s Japanese. It’s a beautiful language.” Baines spoke it years ago but is out of practice. Callen tries some Russian but Baines plays dumb. Callen pushes because it is obvious Baines speaks Russian. Offering Nate a snake plant – one of the hardiest houseplants out there. Doesn’t need a lot of water or light, just time.
Returning to the armory, Sam, Kensi and Deeks did not find Varza. Sam knows the SAC in the FBI’s Middle East office, he can get Shaheen picked up – it isn’t over. The Admiral disagrees. LAPD found Varza an hour ago. She was in a state of delirium about a mile from her house. The State Department orders NCIS to release the Iranian intelligence officers for the greater good – “or so they claim.” Nobody wants to ruffle feathers. The case is closed for now. Shaheen is on their radar however.
In the boat shed, Fatima apologizes to Jarrahi. Jarrahi is sorry the world doesn’t see her research for the good she wants to do. Castor walks her out. Ali arrives. Varza had benzodiazepine in her system – it is a drug used to extract information during interrogations. Since it is almost sundown, Fatima asks Ali to break the fast. He offers her three dates to break to the fast. She jokes about one date and then see how things go. It takes him a second to catch on. The dates got a little smushed when it was tackled.
In the bullpen, Deeks gives Kensi the phone number for Rosa’s aunt. Kensi calls immediately. She and Rosa chat while a happy Deeks watches his happy wife.
Callen is watching the video again when Nate arrives. He’s sure it is Arnold Baines in the video. Checking out the house where Baines lives and is growing his plants, it was purchased in 1986 from a behavioral psychiatrist named Howard Pembrook. The only a slight spelling difference. Pembrook died in 1986 on record. But Arnold Baines is Pembrook. Callen is 100% sure, Nate wants to look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes.
Later that night, Callen starts looking around Baines’s house. All the plants are gone. Anna calls to apologize. She wants to move in with Callen, she doesn’t want to take a step back. Callen promises his obsession is over. Lying to her that he’s finishing up at work, he’ll be home soon. Callen looks at a security camera on the house. Baines sees Callen and says “Seventeen”.
What head canon can be formed from here: I remain so done with the Callen childhood nonsense but am intrigued by Jere Burns being involved. Burns is a quality character actor who has been terrific in any number of programs. He was the head of the Dixie Mafia in Justified. If he returns, I may be interested but otherwise, nothing new here. Nothing at all.
I’m sort of into the Ali-Fatima ship. Hope she hops aboard soon.
Episode number: This is episode 17 of season 13, episode 297.
7 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
nowoolallowed
Wool Dislikers
dancingastralwitch
keep believing!!
cessoapedali
don't mind me
highmaintenancemuses
I'd Hate To Be On Your Bad Side
vinaxxo
༺𓆩♡𓆪༻