A/N: I seem to enjoy putting Kensi and Deeks in uncomfortable situations.

Charade

"How long do we have stay here?" Deeks asks. Kensi sighs and ignores him, gesturing to the bartender for another drink. He taps her shoulder roughly, his expression annoyed when she finally turns to face him. "Hey, I asked you a question."

"Alex, we've only been her for like half an hour, can you please just stop for once?" she replies with an exhausted expression. She shifts the edge of her strappy black dress, revealing a hint more cleavage. Across from her the bartender, an attractive guy with dark hair, smiles and winks at her. Deeks visibly bristles beside her and scowls in the bartender's direction.

"Well some of us worked hard all day and have to be at work again early tomorrow morning too." His tone is annoyingly belittlingly and she snaps.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she demands.

"Forget I said anything."

"No. You think I don't work as hard as you do, don't you?" Deeks glances around them, at the small group of people dancing in the middle of the room, the few bystanders who undoubtedly have noticed them by now, and the bartender who is clearly pretending not to be watching.

"Let's not start a scene, Carrie," he suggests mildly. He starts to walk away from her.

"Oh no," Kensi says, abandoning her drink and pulling him back with a quick tug of his elbow. "You already started it, I'm not about to let you walk away with the last word."

"Fine. Maybe I'm just getting tired of working every day so you can go out and flirt with every guy who buys you a drink," he replies in a rush of words that hold so much dammed up rage that Kensi nearly believes him for a second. She pulls herself together quickly though.

"How dare you!" she whispers, taking a step back that makes her wobble on her ridiculously high stilettos. Deeks reaches out instinctively and she hold her hands our defensively, aware of the dozen or so pairs of eyes avidly watching the spectacle. "How dare you imply that I've been unfaithful."

"What else am I supposed to think? You're never home anymore," Deeks shoots back, no longer trying to keep his voice lowered.

"That is not fair. I supported you through college and when you started your practice. I was there for you all those years and you never once thanked me or asked if there was anything I wanted to do with my life. Now, I try to enjoy myself and suddenly I'm a whore," she says viciously, gaining momentum and desperately trying to hang onto the manufactured anger.

"I never called you–"

"You know, I used to think that you were different, but you're not. You're just like your father. You always have been." Deeks' face flushes with sudden anger and for a moment she shies back without thinking as he grabs her arms, yanking her close to his body.

"Shut up!" he orders in a dangerous voice. Behind them, she sees the slight movement of the bartender behind the bar and it centers her again.

"Alex, you're hurting me," she whispers. His mouth pops open slightly and then he drops her arm as though it burned him. Glancing away with an expression of growing regret, he starts to say something, reaching out again hesitantly, but she interrupts once again. "I wish I never married you," she hisses.

Deeks' expression falls and his extended hand drops down to his side.

"Is everything ok?" the bartender asks, appearing beside Kensi with a protective edge to his tone. He eyes Deeks distastefully and draws a little closer to Kensi.

"Yeah, we're fine," she answers after a moment, rubbing her arm absentmindedly. "He'll pay the tab." Then she's walking away, mechanically opening the door and stepping out into the chilly air. She isn't entirely sure how she manages to make it across the uneven parking lot without twisting her ankle, but next thing she's sitting in Carrie's car.

Her hands trembling, she yanks the fake engagement and wedding rings off her finger and tosses them into the console. They clatter faintly and she pulls in a deep breath then wipes her fingers under her eyes. Kensi takes another moment to compose herself and then asks in voice that is amazingly steady,

"You think that was enough?" There's a brief silence, followed by a crackle and then Sam's reassuringly calm voice fills her ears.

"Oh yeah, Deeks is still at the bar and our guy hasn't taken his eyes off him. Keeps glaring at him like he ran over his dog."

"Good," she says shortly and means it. She would hate for all this to be for nothing. She's also desperately grateful Hetty had insisted on Deeks wearing a button camera. Her would-be protector was suspected of killing 10 men already, including two veterans. There's no way she was about to leave Deeks alone with the bartender without him wearing the camera, a comm, and a tracker.

"Are you ok?" Callen asks and she has to wait a good ten seconds before she can answer truthfully.

"Yeah. Just make sure you keep an eye on Deeks. We know this guy likes to strike unexpectedly."

"Don't worry, Kensi, we won't let him out of our sight. And he's definitely not touching a single strand of Shaggy's hair," Sam replies.

"Ok," she whispers and her voice shakes slightly. Her part of the job is done for now. They sold their covers and now it's up to Deeks to draw their suspect out. If everything goes as planned, it should be over in less than a day, maybe even a few hours.

It should be reassuring, but her thoughts keep returning to the purposely cutting words they'd thrown at each other. She keeps thinking of the way Deeks looked when he grabbed her, the unfettered rage and violence on his face…her involuntary response to it.

Kensi knows none of it was real, but she feels a desperate, immediate need to hold Deeks, even for just a moment. Instead, she starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot.

"I'll be a few blocks away," she reminds Sam and Callen. "Keep me updated on anything that happens."

A/N: Yay, more angst. And now it looks like I need to write another chapter.

And yes, I used Kensi and Deeks' names instead of their covers throughout most of this story on purpose. They may be just a little too close to this one.