Set anytime in the series after Deeks joins the fun. Deeks has a secret.

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Every time the team urged or tried to force Deeks to train with them, he declined. Nobody could figure why and they just wouldn't let up on him about his training or lack thereof. Finally one day he agreed and trained with them. He was terrible. He couldn't do a single take down correctly, whined the entire time and complained about the pain when Kensi practiced take downs on him. After three training session like this they stopped asking him to join them. They did keep encouraging him to train even if it wasn't with them. When they did, he just chuckled, shook his head and said "I'm good." But if anyone of them were to look close enough they would notice the look in his eyes. A look that said 'I have a secret'; but none of them ever looked.

One day he came in with a black eye and a split lip. Fortunately, the swelling on his eye had gone down over the weekend. It was not completely gone but down enough that it didn't affect his vision. The split lip, which was still slightly swollen, was scabbed over but he still wasn't able to smile or laugh without it pulling.

He walked into the bullpen and sat at this desk with a "Good Morning, all" to the team. Nobody looked up as they replied to his greeting.

If or rather when they did notice, he was prepared for the ribbing he knew he was going to get from his teammates and he wasn't disappointed in their reactions.

Kensi was the first to notice the bruising, "What happened?" Kensi wanted to know. With her question Sam and Callen both looked up.

Deeks had a half-truth ready, "I…had a little trouble with a take down this past weekend." The team was shocked to say the least but still quick to pounce. Of course the team couldn't let it just go with that little bit of information.

Sam was the first to pipe up, "What was it? An old lady with a purse?" Deeks chuckled with the rest of the team but Deeks didn't give an answer.

Callen tried to get a rise out of Deeks next, "My guess is," Callen squinted at the Detective, "a celebrity wanna-be with her cell phone. Did you offend her Deeks? Maybe pat her down to much?"

Before Deeks could answer the questions, not that he was planning to answer them, and before Kensi had a chance to add her two cents to the conversation, Eric was at the top of the stairs with his infamous whistle.

With the cases and the work they had, nobody really remembered to needle Deeks about his black eye and split lip. The cases were solved and the black eye and split healed and were quickly forgotten by the team.

Three months later Deeks walked into the Mission with his left hand in a cast.

"Deeks? What the hell?" Callen wanted to know. Callen's exclamation brought Kensi's attention to the Detective. Sam merely glanced up at Deeks before returning to his paperwork, shaking his head in mock disgust.

Deeks was prepared for this and had another half-truth ready, "I went to Vegas this weekend with some friends and we went to the MMA fights…things kinda…got out of hand." He held his broken hand up, "You should see the other guy." He added with a small chuckle knowing the team would take the comment as a joke.

"Right," Sam stretched the word out so it lasted several seconds. He hadn't even bothered to look up as he spoke with a smirk on lips, "Really, what happened? Trip over your own feet again?"

"Ha. Funny Sam. Kensi, you're turn. Give me your best shot." Deeks encouraged.

"Um…somebody tried to cut in line at the coffee shop?" Kensi lamely tried to joke.

"Kensi, haven't we talked about this? Don't try and be funny. It doesn't work for you." Deeks laughed at her.

Kensi glared at him. She and Sam continued to ask Deeks questions about what happened. Callen watched as Deeks didn't answer a single question. He evaded and deflected them, but didn't answer them. Callen wondered why the younger detective would be so vague about what happened.

"Mr. Deeks, my office if you would." Hetty said as she passed by the bullpen.

Deeks hung his head, stood up and followed Hetty to her office. He sat down in one of her visitor's chairs, "Yes, Hetty?"

"How bad is your hand?" She asked.

"A couple of broken bones in the back of my hand and a cracked bone in my wrist. The cast should come off in about 4 weeks but the doctor thinks it will be 6 weeks before I'm fully healed."

"Mr. Deeks, first you're on desk duty until your hand heals."

He was about to argue that it was his left hand that was hurt, not his right hand/gun hand and that he could still go in the field. Hetty met his eyes with her own and simply stared at him like a mongoose while waiting for the first argument. He opened his mouth to argue a couple of seconds before it dawned on him that this was Hetty he was about to argue with and that she probably had every angle or excuse or idea he had to get around her mandate covered. It dawned on him that he really didn't have a choice and that all he could do was give up, so he gave up.

She waited until he nodded his head in agreement then she continued, "Second, what the hell were you thinking?"

Deeks looked at her in shock, "Wha…what…what do you mean?"

"You tried a shoot fighting technique on an experienced ground fighter? You're lucky you only broke your hand and that the referee didn't notice it or he would've stopped the fight. I grant you, that was an excellent way to the end the fight; a sidekick right to the nose. That makes Jason's record 21-5, correct?"

"If you count Jason's fight against DeMarco Williams, that is correct. I'm not sure I count that fight since we were both undercover." Deeks chuckled and lowered his head but raised his eyes to look at her. She had a small smile on her face. "How long have you known?" Deeks wanted to know.

"Since you started to train as Jason Wyler again. We watch all our agents' aliases, Mr. Deeks." Deeks blushed a little; he should have known he couldn't pull one over on Hetty. She reached over her desk and handed him a DVD. "A copy of your last two fights. Watch and learn, Mr. Deeks. I don't want to see you all banged up again." She advised.

"Thank you Hetty."

"May I ask why you haven't told the team yet?" She enquired.

"I just want this to be for me. I don't need the team…" he paused searching for the right words. For a wordsmith he was having trouble finding the words to explain why he wanted to keep his secret. When he couldn't find the right ones, he just made a simple request, "If you don't mind, I just want this to remain between us."

Hetty nodded her head, "As you wish, Mr. Deeks."

"Who else knows?" Deeks asked.

"Only Miss. Jones since she did the backstopping to flesh out Jason Wyler. But her silence is guaranteed." When he didn't move, "I believe you have paperwork to do, Mr. Deeks. I suggest you get to it." He smiled at her and went back to his desk.

When he got back to his desk, he tucked the DVD into his messenger bag and sat down. When his team looked questions at him, he simply said "I'm on desk duty until this heals." He cringed as he saw the joy in his teammates' eyes.

Kensi and Callen stood up and deposited their paperwork on his desk at the same time Sam simply dropped his paperwork on Deeks' desk. He groaned and dropped his head onto his desk. "I need coffee," was all he said.

"Oh good idea Deeks; you're on coffee runs too. I'll take a Grande Latte with an extra shot and light foam." Sam informed him.

"Ok. I'll play your game, Sam. I'll get the coffee. Anybody else?" Deeks asked as he stood up.

He was walking to the coffee shop hoping that these coffee runs wouldn't last the entire 4 – 6 weeks it will take his hand to heal. Thinking about it, he decided he didn't really mind; he had his secret and an ally in Hetty and possibly a second one in Nell. He enjoyed what he was doing and loved the fact that even though they were trained professionals, a fact they never failed to remind him of, they hadn't figured him out yet. But 4 - 6 weeks of paperwork including lunch and coffee runs was going to be tough; especially since he couldn't get back in the ring. He could still hit the bag with his right hand and work on his kicks and cardio but it wasn't the same.