This episode has generated so much fanfiction and yours is one of the best. He loves her so much that he's afraid of losing her if he tells her the truth, but as the old saying goes 'the truth will set you free'.

"She can't hate the parts of you that you never let her see."
So that line pretty much destroyed me. I love it, but it hurts. But then you went and wrote this:
"Or maybe, just maybe, give her the chance to finally love every piece of you."
And almost destroyed me again, this time with beautiful OTP feels.

I'm so glad you posted this and I CAN'T WAIT for chapter 2 *hint*

Awesome look at what Deeks was thinking during this time. Great writing! It really drew me in. I think Deeks wanted to tell her and maybe even gave her some hints along the way hoping she'd figure it out, but I really think he was just scared to tell her and have her see a not so nice part of himself. I too don't like that he outright lied to her when she asked him about it. I think his guilt over lying to her was just as great as his guilt over what he did.

Good Ideas! I like it! ️

Beautifully told. You captured everything I imagined going through Deeks' mind. Fantastic job.

Amazing! (but your fics always are!) Perfect characterisation and beautifully written.

Loved it!

Awesome. Love this little piece of introspection. Written beautifully, as always.

Love it! Seems very true to his character.

This is perfect and I would love to know what you would have written when they finally have that conversation.

-For as long as he can remember, he's been compartmentalizing every aspect of his life. In a way, it's been a means of survival and it's worked for him. Lies, truths, covers, aliases – all of it working together to separate the good from the bad from the ugly from the downright unspeakable. All of it working together to help him live his life the best way he knew how –
This was the best description of his life. It was amazing and can't wait to see what's next!
Well done you!

nicely done. He did what he thought best. Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. He had to be 70% sure he would support him but he had to wait till it was over to tell her or she is someone they could use against him. No win but best decision possible. Can't wait for next chapter.