Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to NCIS: Los Angeles, and am making use of these characters purely for fan purposes – but I absolutely adore Detective Marty Deeks! 3

…o0o…

"Thank you for letting me know so quickly." Hetty's voice betrayed no emotion as she spoke. She disconnected the call, and sighed, clasping her hands together and leaning her head on them. She contacted Eric, and told him to summon everyone to the Ops room.

Minutes later, and all were gathered. Nell was typing furiously at one of the computers, while Sam and Callen were arguing over some sports event that had taken place the previous evening. Kensi was watching them, and wondering why Hetty had called them all together. She hoped Hetty could give them some kind of info on when Deeks was coming back – he was on an undercover assignment for LAPD, but that was the extent of her knowledge. As Hetty entered the room, Eric whistled, in an attempt to get everyone's attention. When this failed, Hetty simply cleared her throat, and they all fell silent – even Nell stopped what she was doing, and turned to face her. All that could be heard was the low hum of the computer equipment – everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

For once in her life, Hetty was at a loss for words. How could she tell them? In the end, the words just came out – simple and blunt.

"Mr Deeks has passed away." This was met with stunned silence. They half expected Hetty to suddenly start laughing, or Deeks to appear from no where shouting that they should all see the looks on their faces. But they knew all too well that Hetty would never make or allow such a joke, as they all knew from experience that the death of a team member was no laughing matter.

The silence was finally broken by Kensi with a weak, "How?"

Hetty seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if considering what to say. "As you all know, Mr. Deeks was working an undercover assignment with LAPD. There were…complications."

"So what you're saying is, the op went bad," Sam stated.

"Yes, Mr Hanna. I do not currently have full details, all I know is that a fire fight ensued, and Mr Deeks was caught up in it and gunned down. He took multiple bullets, and it is believed he died almost instantly."

"Wait, 'believed'? You mean we don't know for sure?"

"No, Mr Callen. There was chaos. All we know for certain is that he was gone by the time medical aid arrived on the scene."

"So he could have been alive, suffering?" Sam said, remembering when Callen had been shot.

"And he was alone," Kensi spoke quietly, "Deeks died alone and in pain."

"Yes, Mr Hanna, Miss Blye, that may be true. But you must also remember that he fell in the line of duty, doing a job he loved and believed in."

"He was a good cop – no, he was a great cop. And he'd probably have made one heck of an agent," Callen spoke as if he did not realise he was speaking these thoughts aloud.

"Yeah he was, and we never…I never even gave him a chance." Sam's voice was laden with guilt.

"Now is not the time for regrets. Our priority now is to give Detective Martin Deeks the send off he deserves. I took the liberty of assigning everyone tasks to prepare for the funeral. Most of the arrangements pertaining to the actual funeral have already been taken care of by the LAPD, but there are a few other things I want done. Mr Beale, if you could please begin reading out the assignments."

Kensi vaguely heard Eric begin speaking in the background, but she found herself unable to focus on or comprehend what was being said. She knew everyone was hurting in some way or another, but for her part, all she felt was numb. And she knew she would remain so until at least after the funeral.

…o0o…

Kensi was surprised at the number of people that had come to attend Deeks' funeral – she had been worried that due to Deeks' lack of family that there would be very few people there. As it was, there was actually a very large crowd. Not just of LAPD, but also civilians, people Deeks had helped at some point or other, or somehow touched their lives. It was true, Marty Deeks had been a great cop.

The service over, the crowd remained silent as a radio crackled over a loudspeaker.

"Dispatch to 7007." Silence. "Dispatch to 7007." Still silence. "7007. Gone, but not forgotten."

Suddenly Monty, who had been sitting at Kensi's feet throughout the service, began to whine. And then it was as if all hell had broken loose. Somewhere further down the front row, a scuffle broke out. In anger, Kensi glared in that direction and began to try to work her way through the crowd to sort out whatever disrespectful display was taking place at her partner's funeral. Two shots rang out, and mourners began screaming and running every which way in panic. Leaving the police officers to deal with the general crowd, she continued fighting her way to the source of the problem. When she got there, she was shocked to see a confrontation between a few LAPD officers, and men in dark suits and sunglasses. What shocked her even more, however, was that she recognised one of the LAPD officers. She felt the others join her.

"Oh my god, is that - ?"

"No, it can't be."

"It's not possible."

For there before them was none other than – Deeks!

"But – how?"

"What the hell is going on?"

But there was no time. A fire fight had broken out, and the NCIS had no choice but to join in. A couple of LAPD officers went down, but took a few of the guys in suits with them. Out of the corner of her eye, Kensi noticed that another man, dressed in an obviously highly expensive suit, had now joined in. As she took out the last of his body guards – for that was evidently what they were – she whirled around desperately looking for her partner. But instead all she saw was that Mr Pricey-suit had his gun pointed at her, and Deeks staring in horror at this, while his own gun was pointed at the guy.

"Put the gun down, Detective, or I shoot her."

Deeks opened his mouth to speak, but the man cut in, "And don't even bother trying to deny knowing her. I know all about your partner, NCIS Agent Kensi Blye, who by the way, seems a little shocked to see you. Clearly she was not in on the plan, correct, Detective?" No response from Deeks, which confirmed that he was right. "My, my, Deeks, you really did go all out on this whole fake funeral concept. I must admit, it was clever – the last time we spoke I promised to be at your funeral, whether I was responsible for your death or not. You almost had me, but you underestimated me and my knowledge of you. Which brings us back to Agent Blye. I know all about the two of you and, more importantly, I know what your feelings are towards her. Now lower your weapon before I lose my patience."

"I'm the one you want, Cavanaugh; she has nothing to do with this."

"On the contrary, Mr Deeks, she has everything to do with this. If I kill her, it will kill you. You know, that's actually not such a bad idea, and I kind of like the idea of watching you fall to pieces as she dies right before your eyes." He cocked the hammer of his gun – and fired.

Kensi had closed her eyes as soon as she heard the hammer click. She heard two gunshots and waited for the impact. And waited. And waited. Bewildered, she opened her eyes to see what had happened – and felt her blood run cold. Cavanaugh was lying dead on the ground, a bullet wound clearly visible on his skull. But that was not what concerned her – all she cared about was Deeks, who was lying at her feet.

She dropped down beside him to assess the damage, already knowing he had taken the hit for her. As she cradled her unconscious partner, she saw that the bullet had penetrated his abdomen, and blood was fast soaking his uniform. Monty ran up to his beloved master and began licking his face.

Cracking one eye open, Deeks said softly, "Hey boy, you miss me?" And managed to lift his arm and give the dog a brief pet. Then he turned his gaze to Kensi, and attempted his trademark smile, "Hey Fern."

She simply replied, "Hey partner," deciding now was not the time to reprimand him – both for pulling such a bone-headed stunt, and for the whole fake-death thing. As if reading her mind, he said softly,

"I'm sorry…for everything."

"We'll discuss this later, Deeks."

He again tried to disguise his pain with a smile, "I don't know how talkative I'll be." She must have looked confused. "Seriously though, how messed up is that? Dying at my own funeral."

Kensi felt tears pricking at her eyes, but tried to stay strong for him,

"Don't be ridiculous, you're not going to die. The medics will be here any minute, they'll fix you up and you'll be back to annoying the hell out of me before you know it."

"You love it really, just admit it."

"Stop doing that."

"What?"

"Protecting me. You didn't have to take that shot for me, and you don't have to –"

"Yes, I did. And no, I didn't just feel like I had to protect you because you're my partner, but because I can't imagine a world without you in it. And because I couldn't live with myself if I let you get hurt." It seemed to be taking more and more effort for him to remain conscious.

"Don't talk now. I told you, we'll talk later. For now, just conserve your strength until the medics get here, okay?" A few minutes passed. Where are those damn medics? Kensi thought to herself.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you." Deeks spoke up quietly.

"What?"

"That I wasn't really dead. LAPD said it would be better if only a couple of people knew the truth. We had to catch Cavanaugh; LAPD's been after him for years."

"It's alright, Deeks."

"No, it's not. I'm sorry that you had to deal with all this. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you. Now, just keep quiet, I'm sure the medics are on their way."

A few more minutes passed, and still no sign of help arriving.

"Hey Kens, what do you think happens when you die?"

"I'm not talking about this. I told you, you are not going to die."

"You know the worst thing? In movies they always say you see your life flash before your eyes, but in reality, it's the opposite, and you see all the stuff you never got a chance to do."

"Deeks, please…don't…"

He seemed to be finding it harder and harder to stay awake. She shook him gently,

"Hey, hey, don't go to sleep. Stay with me, okay?"

"Say bye to everyone for me, yeah? And Monty needs someone, could you…" His voice was getting softer and softer.

"Deeks, you are not letting go, understand? I cannot lose another partner…I can't lose you!"

"Sorry…I love you, Kensi," his eyes closed and his breathing became shallow.

"Don't you dare die on me, Deeks, don't you dare!" but she could not rouse him from unconsciousness. "Dammit, Deeks, don't leave me! I love you, Marty! Marty! MARTY!"

…o0o…

Yup, I'm horrible for ending it there…I can either leave it like that, and everyone can come up with their own ending, or I could finish it off – what do you guys think?

Also, in reference to the badge number used at the funeral, I read somewhere online that Deeks' badge number is 7007, but I apologise if this is incorrect.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this – please leave a review letting me know your thoughts. Constructive criticism, if necessary, is appreciated, but flames are useless and a waste of everyone's time.

Thanks for reading! :)