A/N: So I was watching the Say Yes to the Dress America wedding and one of the grooms collapsed from the heat so...

Kensi had lived in LA for a long time, but she couldn't ever remember being quite this hot. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck even in the air conditioned taco truck, making her grey t-shirt stick to her back.

She could hear Deeks in her ear, chatting it up with whoever would stop long enough to listen. He was in full Artie get-up today, out on a street corner in the blazing sun as they waited for Davis Kelleher to leave his office building and head off to a clandestine meeting with some arms dealers. It had been several hours and at this point Kensi was becoming convinced their suspect had called everything off because of the heat. International terrorism could wait for a day without a high of one hundred and ten.

"Does the air go any cooler?" Nell grumbled, fumbling around with the dashboard.

Sam and Callen were out of town for a training so she'd come along as backup for the day, leaving Beale solo in Ops, which he'd made clear he wasn't a fan of. But Nell was thrilled to have a little freedom and she and Kensi had spent the first few hours of their little stakeout enjoying one another's company, talking about their respective partners, life, and the new Thai place that had opened up last week.

But things had gone a little quiet in the last thirty minutes as the heat continued to skyrocket and air quality warnings popped up all over their screens.

"That's as cool as it gets," Kensi said, wiping her forehead.

"Well that sucks." Nell pushed back a strand of sweaty hair and stuck her face in front of the vent. "Good lord it's hot."

"Record high for LA in like a hundred years." Kensi reached in the glove box for a fake take out menu and began fanning herself.

"I don't know why I even showered this morning," Nell said as she frowned at her damp blouse.

Kensi touched her comm. "Deeks how you doing out there?"

He turned toward the hidden camera on the truck and gave her a thumbs up. She felt bad. Artie's getup wasn't comfortable and he had to be absolutely dying in this heat. She watched as a homeless man Deeks had talked to earlier, she thought maybe his name was Nick, shuffled over and began talking with her partner.

Kensi checked her watch. "Eric any movement from the offices inside?"

"Negative," Eric said. "He's been in there all day."

"I don't know." Kensi looked at Nell. "I think maybe we should call it for today. Try again tomorrow. Nobody's going out in this heat if they can help it."

She hated to leave an op unfinished but there was no point in sticking around if the meet had been cancelled. Nell nodded. "I'll start packing it up."

"Deeks did you hear that?" Kensi asked. "We're heading out."

She saw him nod and heard him continue his conversation with Nick, her heart melting just a little bit as he patiently listened to the other man's advice, which was all a repeat of an hour earlier. Her husband was such a good man.

"Over on Hollywood, that bakery? They'll give you free water for your dog," Nick said.

"That's good to know man, thanks," Deeks told him.

"They don't even mind. They just give it to you."

"I appreciate it."

"You ever been over there before?"

"No I haven't but I'll definitely…"

Kensi looked up at the screen when she heard Deeks trail off, eyes searching the area for any sign of a problem. "You okay?" Nick asked.

Deeks' breathing was loud over the comms. "Yeah, I…I think…"

Kensi keyed her comm. "Deeks? You good?"

He put a hand to his head and collapsed to the ground. Kensi scrambled out of her seat. "Nell!"

Nell looked up at the screen. "Oh my god!"

Kensi jumped out of the van and ran across the street, dropping to her knees by her partner. "Deeks! Baby!" She cupped his face in her hands. "Hey, wake up!"

"Kens what do you need?" Nell asked.

"Call 911. And then get anything cold we've got in the van. I think it's heatstroke." She started pulling off bits of Artie garb in an attempt to cool Deeks off. His skin was extremely hot and dry, and when she reached for his wrist she found his pulse extremely fast.

"Here."

She looked up to see Nick holding out a bottle of water. "You gotta cool him down."

"Thank you," Kensi said gratefully. She cracked the seal and gently poured it onto Deeks' face and neck as Nell returned with a few more semi-cool bottles. "This is all we've got," she said. "Paramedics are on their way."

"Okay good."

Deeks' eyes fluttered and Kensi put a hand on his shoulder to keep him still. "Hey, you're okay," she said.

He blinked several times, trying to focus. "What…?"

"You passed out," Kensi said. "Just stay still all right? Help is coming."

"'mokay," he said, struggling to sit up.

"No, no, no," she put a hand on his face as Nell moved closer to help her keep him down. "No you're not. Just breathe. Nell hand me those bottles."

She tucked one underneath each of his armpits and cracked open a third. "Try and drink a little of this," she directed, helping him hold up his head so he could take a few sips.

Sirens came screaming around the corner and Kensi winced internally. The chances they'd just blown this op were pretty high, but she couldn't worry about that now. Deeks was her priority, always.

He gradually seemed to come back to himself as the paramedics jumped out and began an IV, removing Kensi's makeshift icepacks and adding their own. "I don't know," Deeks said several minutes later when he was finally more upright. "One minute I was up and then I was down."

"Your heart rate and blood pressure are still really high so we're going to take you in," the medic told him.

"No, that's, I don't need—"

"He'll go," Kensi told the medic, giving her husband a warning glare. "I'm his wife, can I go with him?"

"Yeah you can ride up front."

"I'll go take care of things back…home," Nell said.

Kensi nodded gratefully, getting to her feet as they got Deeks up and into the ambulance.

He threw up once during the drive, but by the time they reached the hospital he seemed almost back to normal, his face less red, his speech no longer slurred and confused. Kensi felt the hard ball of worry in her gut dissipate as he began to joke with the nurses and doctors, his Deeks charm alive and well.

"So did I blow the op?" he asked when they finally had a second alone together.

"That doesn't matter," Kensi said. "What matters is you being all right. Why didn't you say anything? We could have pulled you out."

"I didn't realize how bad it was. I was just talking to Nick and everything went dark and then I saw your beautiful face looking down at me." He looked at her with wide, sappy eyes.

"Do not try and charm your way out of this Martin Deeks," she said. "I am not happy with you right now."

"C'mon babe! It's not a big deal."

"Oh it's not? How about I call your mother and tell her why you aren't coming into the bar tonight? Do you think she'll agree it's not a big deal?"

"Kensi no," he said in horror. "You cannot call my mom."

She held up her phone threateningly. "Then behave and do what the doctors tell you to. Otherwise I leave Mama B is going to be over here before I even hang up the phone."

"Okay, okay!" Deeks held up his hands in surrender.

"Thank you." She put her phone away, then sighed, brushing away a stray curl from his forehead. "You really scared me babe."

He caught her hand, locking his fingers with hers. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"I know. Just don't do it again. Maybe we need to retire Artie. That outfit has way too many layers for this kind of heat."

"Hey, don't blame Artie for this! He's just out there living his best life on the streets. He can't help it that the heat index caused me to pass out."

Kensi raised her eyebrows. "You know that Artie's not real right? It's just you in a disguise?"

"He's a part of me Kensi," Deeks said, a dramatically wounded expression on his face. "And he always will be."
She rolled her eyes and extricated her hand. "Yeah, you're better now. I'm going to go check in with Nell."

"Our bond is special! You can't take that away from us!" Deeks called as she left the room.

"My husband," Kensi said to a surprised nurse who was walking by. "There's no cure for him."

A/N: First quarantine fic down. Hope it brightened your spirits a bit in these crazy times! Leave your love in the reviews!