Title: Two of a Kind
Author: DizzyDrea
Summary: Deeks and Callen share a moment, and a little advice about the women in their lives.
Rating: T
Spoilers: Touch of Death
Author's Notes: This is just a bit of fluff, a moment in time that I thought might be fun to listen in to. This is sort-of a post-ep to Touch of Death, but all you really need to know is that they had a lousy week and went out to blow off some steam at a local bar after they'd finally solved the case. And yes, the title of the story comes from the Garth Brooks song of the same name.
Disclaimer: NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles and all its particulars are the property of CBS, Paramount, Donald P. Bellisario, Belisarius Productions, Shane Brennan, Shane Brennan Productions, and a lot of other people who aren't me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

"Look at them," Marty Deeks said as he sidled up next to his teammate. "What do you think they talk about?"

G Callen glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. His shoulders lifted in a barely-there shrug. "Us?"

Deeks snorted. "Probably." He paused a beat. "That doesn't worry you?"

"What, that they talk about us?" Callen asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or that they're not even pretending that they're not?"

"Both?" Deeks asked.

His eyes drifted to the next table over, watching avidly as his partner and their intelligence analyst sat, heads together, talking a mile a minute. They'd all agreed to meet after putting their latest case to bed; everyone had agreed that averting a smallpox outbreak deserved a celebratory round of drinks, even if it was a school night. As the evening wore on, he'd noticed that every once in a while, one or the other of the women would glance over to where he and Callen were standing, nursing beers. Nell, at least, had the good grace to flush with embarrassment when she'd discovered she was being watched. Kensi had just winked at him and turned back to Nell without missing a beat.

Deeks took a long pull on his beer bottle as he considered the problem. Things were… complicated between him and his partner. He wasn't going to deny that he found Kensi Blye interesting. She was strong, sexy, quick on her feet. And while he might know that he shouldn't want her, that didn't stop him from wanting her.

"Want some free advice?"

Deeks cut his gaze to his teammate, but there was no mockingly sarcastic smirk waiting for him like he'd expected. Just the face of a man who understood his dilemma. He sighed. "Sure, why not."

"Kensi's… complicated."

"Don't I know it," Deeks said.

Callen smirked. "Flirting and innuendo may work with most women, but she's not most women."

"This I know," Deeks said. "She's been kicking my ass since the day we met."

"And that's my point," Callen said, pointing at Deeks with his bottle. "She can kick your ass from here 'till next Tuesday, and there isn't a damned thing you can do about it."

"You do realize this isn't helping, don't you?"

"She doesn't want to be treated like some cheap date you picked up at a bar," Callen said, his smirk reappearing. "She knows she's beautiful, and that she isn't taken seriously because of it. The last thing she needs is for you to remind her of that every day."

"What?" Deeks sputtered, outraged at the suggestion. "I don't—"

"Treat her like some chick you picked up in a bar?"

Deeks bowed his head. He leaned down and rested his forearms on the bar table, idly spinning the bottle between his hands. "What is it about her that brings out my inner Ferris Buehler?"

Callen chuckled. "Smart. Sassy. Sexy. She's reduced better men than you to blubbering idiots."

"You?" Deeks asked, turning to look at his teammate with an eyebrow raised.

"We're friends," Callen said. It wasn't an answer, but it was the only one he knew he'd get.

"So…"

"I'm not saying don't flirt," Callen said, turning his gaze back to the women at the other table as he settled in beside Deeks, leaning against the table in a mirror of Deeks' pose. "Just, flirt with respect."

"Flirt with respect, huh?" Deeks asked, quirking a smirk of his own. "That's your big advice?"

Callen shrugged again. "Take it, don't take it. But if you don't, expect to keep getting your ass kicked." Deeks winced, and Callen chuckled again. "I'm just saying."

"Yeah," Deeks said.

They stood in silence, watching Kensi and Nell continue to chat conspiratorially. Deeks was a big enough man to admit when he was whipped, and Kensi had successfully done it. He'd follow her anywhere, and despite what Callen had said, he did respect her, more than he'd respected anyone else he'd worked with, man or woman. Still, they weren't in junior high, and he'd probably make more progress with her if he didn't act like he was.

He glanced at Callen, watching his eyes follow the womens' conversation intently. He'd said that he and Kensi were just friends, and nothing Deeks had seen in his time with NCIS had made him think otherwise. So, if it wasn't Kensi he was watching, it had to be Nell. He raised an eyebrow. That, he hadn't expected.

"So—"

"No."

"What?" Deeks asked, turning to look at the other man. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Don't care," Callen said. "Whatever it is, I'm not interested."

"Now, that I don't believe."

Callen raised his own eyebrow. Deeks' mouth stretched in a lazy smile as his eyes tracked over to Nell before swinging back to Callen.

Callen sighed, dropping his head.

"Hey, look," Deeks said, suddenly feeling bad for pushing. "Just forget I said anything."

Callen rubbed his hand over his face. "It's okay. Really. There's just not much to tell."

"But there's something there, isn't there?" Deeks asked, intensely curious despite the warning bells going off in his head. Callen didn't share; and a G Callen who'd been forced into sharing could probably take his head off, with one hand tied behind his back.

"Yeah."

"Want a little free advice?"

Callen turned to him, an amused smirk on his face. "Not you, too?"

Deeks frowned. "Me, too?"

"Nate."

"Ah," Deeks said. It figured that a forensic psychologist would pick up on the vibes between the two.

A moment or two passed before Callen spoke again.

"So," he said. "Free advice?"

"Go for it."

Callen turned, pushing up onto one elbow as he stared at Deeks. "That's your big advice?"

"Funny," Deeks said. He pushed up, standing straight and turning to face Callen. "You don't let people in, and I get that. I do. You've had it rough, so it's hard for you. But everyone deserves to be happy, Callen, even you. Maybe especially you. Don't overthink it, just go for it. Whatever happens, happens, but at least you can't say you didn't try."

Callen turned back to the table, his eyes automatically moving to watch Kensi and Nell. He was as unreadable as ever, but Deeks hoped he'd at least consider what he'd said.

"Thanks," Callen said after a moment.

Deeks turned a surprised smile to him. "You, too."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam coming their way. He put the bottle to his lips to take a sip just as Sam's hand connected with his shoulder. Hard.

"And what are you two ladies being so secretive about?"

Deeks grinned painfully, catching Callen's wince as he did.

"Deeks was just saying he thought he could drink me under the table," Callen said.

"Hey!" Deeks protested.

Sam chuckled. "I could drink you both unconscious and you know it."

"Not that you're wrong, but you do realize that's not doing my ego any good, right?" Deeks asked.

Sam just laughed all the harder and waved the waitress over, ordering three shots of tequila with what Deeks thought was more than a necessary amount of glee.

He caught Callen's gaze, and the other man winked at him. Deeks smiled. If he didn't want to tell Sam what they'd really been talking about, that was just fine with him. The less Sam had to tease him about, the better.

"Who's driving me home when you drink me unconscious?" Deeks asked instead.

"I'll pour you into a cab," Kensi said as she approached the table.

"And will you—" He broke off at the sharp kick to the shin. Cutting a frown at Callen, the source of his currently painful leg, he turned back to his partner. "—still respect me in the morning if I do this horrible thing?"

"Probably not," she said, smiling wide. "But I will make sure you're still alive."

Deeks smiled in return, relaxing into the table as he basked in her smile. He glanced at Callen again, and saw the man smiling at Nell, who'd sidled up to him, her grin nearly splitting her face. He'd always been accused of being overly sentimental, but even he couldn't deny that they looked good together.

He chuckled, shaking his head as he looked back to Kensi while Sam got their shots ready. They were two of a kind, he and Callen. Who'd have thought?

~Finis