A/N: I was thinking about potential conversations Deeks and Sam could have had early on in the series.
***
Assumptions
Deeks has never missed Kensi more than he does right now. It’s not often that they’re split up, and even less likely for him to be paired up with Sam, yet that was what happened today. While Kensi attended a training and Callen handled interviewing some witnesses, Hetty had sent Deeks and Sam on surveillance duty.
They’d been in the Challenger for an hour and twenty-one minute, during which Sam had said approximately ten words. Clearly, something was bugging him, and Deeks’ presence hadn’t improved his mood. So, they sat outside their suspect’s apartment, waiting in near silence.
Deeks straightened up as the front door opened suddenly and the guy they’d been watching emerged. Sam shifted to get a better look, making a disapproving sound.
“What a waste. He could be making something of himself and instead he’s throwing it away on petty crimes,” he observed.
“I mean, I get what’s it like,” Deeks said, pausing to take a picture of the man walking to his car. Man didn’t seem appropriate since the guy was barely nineteen. “Sometimes it’s hard to find your way out of a rough childhood. When you’re surrounded by people who aren’t afraid to steal, hurt, and cheat their way through life, it takes a lot to not follow in their footsteps.”
“What would you know about that?” Sam scoffed, dismissive and scathing all at once.
“Excuse me?”
“Deeks, I know where you went to school. Just because you spent a couple years going undercover in the rough part of town and you’re “method” does not mean you know what it’s like.”
Deeks didn’t say anything, momentarily stunned by Sam’s comment. In the last couple of months, he’d thought they turned a corner. Sam didn’t seem to hate the sight of him quite as much and occasionally seemed to actually consider him an equal teammate. Then there were times like this.
“You know what they say about people who assume,” he came up with, which wasn’t his best, but hey, he hadn’t planned on having this particular conversation today.
“I think I know your type pretty well. You grew up thinking you were something pretty special because you weren’t like everybody else. The class rebel. That might have worked at LAPD, but it won’t work here.”
Deeks huffed a laugh, licking his bottom lip.
“Oh man, you are so far off the mark.” He turned and gave Sam his most smart-ass smile, knowing it would piss him off. “I got into on a merit-based scholarship. If my GPA dipped below a 3.5, I would have lost my scholarship permanently. In undergrad, I worked two part-time jobs to pay for my dorm room and then a stunningly crappy apartment. Law school was worse.”
Sam’s expression shifted from perpetually annoyed to vaguely concerned. “You were a scholarship kid?”
“Yep. Probably wouldn’t have gone to college otherwise.” Deeks paused a beat, letting that sink in. He kept up the peppy attitude, even though he felt a little nauseous at sharing so much of his truth without embellishments. As far as he knew, Kensi, Hetty, and Nell were the only other ones on the team who knew significant parts of his past. “And hey, that’s not even getting into my dad being in jail.”
Deeks purposely looked out of the window, not wanting to see Sam’s pity or judgment. Whichever one the revelation brought.
“I didn’t know that about your dad,” Sam said eventually. He sounded subdued, so he’d gone the pity route. “What’s he in for?”
“Use your imagination. I’m sure you can come up with a likely scenario,” Deeks told him, and he flashed another quick smile. Sam didn’t need to know all the dirty details. Sam didn’t need to know Gordon Brandel was the kind of guy he might want to punch a few times. Sam hadn’t earned that knowledge yet; maybe he never would.
“I guess there’s a reason you never mention him,” Sam commented weakly, and Deeks almost chuckled at his discomfort.
“Yeah. The point is, I have more in common with this kid than you might think.” He leaned forward, snapping another picture. “And he’s on the move.”
That effectively ended the conversation, which Deeks was completely fine with. He didn’t need Sam to dig deeper, and hopefully, his general irritation with Deeks would keep him from following up later.
***
A/N: This little story occurred to me when I was thinking about how much of Deeks’ history Sam knew pre “Descent/Ascension”. Since we never have any scenes with Deeks sharing this information with Sam or him finding out in other ways, it’s always fun for me to explore.