I have no excuses. But I'm going to finish what I started.

Deeks found himself at his desk. He glanced at the clock. 1:11 AM. He sighed and sent Kensi a text. Please don't worry, just couldn't sleep. He knew she probably wouldn't get it until the morning, so he just sighed and reread the document in his hands for the umpteenth time that night. His red pen found its way to a paragraph about halfway down the third page. This one, stupid paragraph was what had been eating away at his mind for years. This paragraph left no room for argument, no room for misconceptions, and no room for his peace of mind. It had originally been written to be air-tight, so that there were no loopholes, no chance for anybody to capitalize on his death. But now, it just left a hole in his heart. He placed his will on his desk and pulled up a blank document on his computer.

Monty paced around the bed on his three good legs, trying to decide if he would be able to jump onto it. He pushed his nose into Kensi's hand and whined. When she didn't wake up, he whined again and sat next to the bed. He was getting anxious. Monty put a cautious paw up on the bed and whined louder. When he wasn't acknowledged, he put another paw on the bed and sniffed Kensi's face. Nothing. He licked her cheek, but all she did was turn over. He barked.

Kensi woke with a start at the sound of Monty's bark. She looked over at him and he wagged his tail. His two front paws were on the bed and he was looking up at her in anticipation. Kensi reached for his middle section from her position and guided the injured dog onto the bed. Monty, now on the bed, licked her face and went to lie by her feet. Kensi smiled at the dog's antics and lay back down. In her half-asleep state, she glanced over at the clock on her bedside table. 4:00 AM it read in bright green numbers. She closed her eyes and fell back into a light slumber.

She woke again to the sound of Monty whining to go out. His face was hovering over hers, his tail wagging and his breath fanning over her. "Monty," She said, "I love you, but your breath stinks." Kensi made a face and laughed when Monty wagged his tail harder at the mention of his name. He placed a paw on her leg through the blanket and whined again. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up." She moved to stand up and Monty jumped from the bed. He half walked, half hopped his way to the door on his three good legs. He looked up at her impatiently as she grabbed his leash and put on her tennis shoes. He pawed the door. "I know, Monty, you have to pee." She clipped the leash onto his collar and they stepped out into the fresh morning air.

Monty almost dragged her to the nearest tree and attempted to hike his leg. He whined when the motion was met with resistance from the bandaging on his leg and looked up at her in confusion. "Looks like you're going to have to squat, buddy." Kensi said. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the dog when it took him a couple more tries before he realized that he would be unable to hike his leg to pee. Finally, he squatted on his three legs, and Kensi looked at the fourth as he relieved himself. The bandage held his fourth leg in place, folded at the joint, and his paw was held in place just inches below his stomach. Monty turned to sniff the spot where he had just relieved himself, and seemingly satisfied with his work, pulled her along towards the park.

Callen walked into the mission and smirked at the sight. Deeks was asleep at his desk, two presumably empty cups of coffee sat on the corner of the desk and several papers littered the floor. Deeks' laptop was wide open, but the screen was black. Callen quietly set his own stuff down before walking over to Deeks. He leaned in and whispered, "If you get drool on that desk, Hetty will kill you." Deeks awake with a start, jumping back in his seat.

"Aaah!" When he realized what had just happened, he looked up at Callen with shock on his face. "Dude, didn't anybody ever teach you not to whisper into an agent's ear when they're sleeping?" Deeks asked, trying to brush the situation off.

"Awe, come on, Deeks, I'm just having a little fun." Callen smirked back.

"Well if you could keep your fun and your breath away from my ear, that'd be great." Deeks joked back.

"What are you doing here so early, anyway?" Callen asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Deeks quipped.

"I'm always here this early." Callen retorted. "Kensi put you in the dog house?"

"No." Deeks answered.

"Care to elaborate?"

"No."

"Okay, well then I suppose I'll just have to guess." Callen looked around at Deeks' desk again. "Clearly you were working on paperwork." He deduced from the papers strewn over the floor. "In the middle of the night. So either Hetty has threatened you for turning in late paper work again..." Callen trailed off. "...Or..." Callen squinted his eyes at the former detective. "You're hiding something from Kensi."

"Yup, you got me. Had a ton of paperwork to catch up on, and Hetty's gonna kill me if I don't get this finished before the end of the day." Deeks put his hands on his keyboard and focused his eyes on the screen. "So, if you don't mind to stop distracting me, that would be great." Callen's eyes focused on Deeks intently, but he said nothing as he sat at his desk.

As Kensi walked Monty back toward the apartment building, she noticed the absence of Deeks' car. She unlocked the door and hung the leash by the door. She headed to the kitchen, noting the presence of Deeks' surfboard in the corner of the living room. She put some food in Monty's bowl and reached for the red bottle of pills on the counter. She read the bottle.

Rimadyl 75mg tablets

Give 1/2 tablet every 8 hours as needed for pain.

Kensi reached into the fridge and pulled out a slice of cheese and wrapped half of a pill in it. "Monty!" She called. Monty turned to her and wagged his tail. "Sit." She commanded. Monty sat and watched her hands excitedly. Kensi held the cheese covered pill out to him and Monty ate it with enthusiasm. "Good boy!" She said as she patted his head. Monty wagged his tail. Kensi glanced at the clock on the stove and decided that she should start getting ready. She checked her phone that she had left on her nightstand. She opened her texts.

Please don't worry, just couldn't sleep. 1:11 AM. She sent Deeks a quick message. Where are you? Her phone dinged in her hand. Work. Had some paperwork to catch up on. Kensi smiled at the thought of Hetty threatening Deeks if he turned another report in late. Don't want to face the wrath of Hetty? He replied quickly. I very much like the function of all my body parts. Kensi smiled and set her phone down to get ready for work.

When Deeks realized she wasn't going to reply again, he set his phone down. He looked at the screen in front of him and sighed. He wouldn't be comfortable until this was completely taken care of. He attached a copy of the file to an email and sent it to one of his old buddies from law school. Need this handled ASAP. Can come sign it this afternoon. Six o'clock work for you?

He sent the email and looked up from his computer. He became aware of the disaster that he had made of his desk. Deeks leaned down to pick up the papers when Sam came in.

"Deeks, I know you're living with Kensi now and things aren't as clean as they used to be, but you've gotta take pride in your desk, man." Sam teased.

"Sorry, just had a long night." Deeks replied.

"Did that night happen to involve an atomic bomb and your desk?" Sam quipped back.

"He claims Hetty threatened him over late paperwork again." Callen chimed in.

"Oh, does he?" Sam asked rhetorically. "Well, I don't blame you, man. I would not want to be on the receiving end of the wrath of Hetty."

"Does anybody?" Callen asked.

"So what case you working on?" Sam asked, putting Deeks on the spot.

"Uh.. Dead Marine." Deeks lied.

"Which Marine?" Callen asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"I think he's lying to us, G." Sam

"I would say so, Sam." Callen replied. Callen got up from his seat and sent a look to Sam, who got the message. They surrounded him from the front and side and Deeks knew there was no escape. "What are you hiding, Deeks?" Callen asked.

"Who, me? I'm not hiding anything." Deeks feigned, "You guys are paranoid."

"No, I don't think so. You see, because I'm your team leader and I always know when you're late turning in your paperwork." Callen chimed. "And I know that you haven't turned in late paperwork since the last time Hetty threatened to cut off your-"

"Whoah, guys, this is getting a little weird!" Deeks interrupted, taking in their close proximity.

"Don't try to change the subject." Sam said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the edge of Deeks' desk.

"I'm not changing the subject, I'm just saying that you guys are getting uncomfortably close!" Deeks exclaimed, looking desperately for an out.

"Just tell us what you're hiding and we'll leave you alone." Sam said.

"I already told you, I'm not hiding anything!" Deeks exclaimed.

"Okay, well if you're not hiding anything, you won't mind if we take a look at your computer, then?" Callen said, reaching toward Deeks' laptop. Sam pulled Deeks' chair, with him still in it, out of the way. "Ooh, Deeks, who are you meeting at six, huh?"

"Come on guys, haven't you ever heard of privacy?" Deeks complained. Sam glanced back at him before clicking on the attached file.

"Last will and testament of Martin A. Deeks?" Sam read aloud. "That's what you were hiding?"

"Uh... Don't tell Kensi?" Deeks was unsure how to answer that.

Aside from the prying in the morning, the day had turned out to be rather uneventful. Hetty had asked them to follow up on some leads on a cold case, but those had gone nowhere. At 5:30, the team had been released and wished a good night.

"So, wanna get some fish tacos and go to the beach?" Kensi asked as they walked out of the mission.

"Actually, could you go home and take care of Monty?" Deeks asked.

"Sure, but where are you going?"

"I- I've just got some things I've got to take care of." He answered, praying she wouldn't pry any further.

'"Ooooh-kay." Kensi said, accepting what he was saying, but wishing for more information.

"I'll be home in a couple of hours." He kissed her head as they parted ways to their cars. "I love you." He said after her.

"I love you too." She admitted.

Deeks parked up the block from the tall office building. He walked into the lobby and pushed the elevator button. He didn't need to check the board on the wall, he knew exactly where he was going. When the doors opened, he stepped into the elevator and pushed the round button with a 3 on it. It lit up blue. The doors closed behind him and he felt the elevator begin to move. As the doors opened again, he found himself unable to move. He was staring out at the hallway in front of him, sure of what he wanted to do, but not sure how to do it. He knew that he had to do this for Kensi, knew that it was one of the most important papers he would sign in his life, but yet couldn't bring himself to face the thought of death. How stupid, he thought,you face death every day. It's just a piece of paper. He started down the hall. Just because you have a will, doesn't mean it will get used. You're not going to die, you're just doing this for Kensi. He laughed inwardly to himself. He was telling himself that he was doing this for her, which, albeit was true, but it was mostly for him. He was doing it so that he knew she would be okay if something happened to him.

His hands fumbled with the envelope in his hands. He prayed Kensi would never see it. He prayed that she would never have to read the words written in his handwriting on the lone piece of paper in the envelope. He prayed that she would never shed tears like the ones that were threatening to fall from his eyes at the moment. He prayed to a god that he wasn't sure he believed in that she would never feel the pain he felt at just the thought of her death. He opened the door and stepped into the office.

"Jeremy." Deeks said, upon seeing his friend at his desk.

"Yo, Marty! My man!" Jeremy stood from his seat and buttoned his suit jacket. He reached his hand out to shake Deeks'. "How've you been?"

"Pretty good. Can't complain. Love my job. Love my fiance."

"Ooh, yes. I'm assuming this would be the Kensi in your new will?" Jeremy asked, nonchalant. "Is she with you tonight?"

"I'm sorry to say she isn't. She's at home taking care of Monty."

"How is he, by the way?" Jeremy asked. "I feel like I haven't seen Monty in ages."

"He's alright. Hurt himself the other night chasing a squirrel." Deeks underplayed the injury.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jeremy said genuinely. "I hope he feels better."

"Yeah, me too."

"So, let's get down to business, shall we?"

Deeks arrived home around eight. He was exhausted mentally. He hated every minute in Jeremy's office, going over every single paragraph as though they were looking for the one thing that could allow everything to fall apart, because they were. Deeks knew the will was airtight though. He hadn't danced his way through law school for nothing. He smirked.

"What's so funny?" Kensi asked as he joined her on the couch.

"Nothing. I'll tell you someday."

"Can someday be today?" Kensi asked.

"You would have made a great lawyer," he said, changing the subject.

"Is that what's funny? Or is that you changing the subject?" Kensi inquired.

"That's me changing the subject."

"Oh.. Okay." Kensi said, a little disappointed. "How was whatever you had to handle?"

"Horrible."

"Are you going to tell me what it was?"

"Maybe. Someday. But not today." He insisted. "Today, I want to sit here with you and Monty and just relax and know that all is well in the world."

"Oo-kay?" Kensi raised an eyebrow. He smiled and pressed a kiss against the side of her head.

"I love you." He whispered into her hair.

"I love you too."