'NCIS: Los Angeles' season 8 spoilers, plot updates 2016: Deeks and Kensi working apart in upcoming installment?

Season 7 of "NCIS: Los Angeles" saw fan-favorite couple Kensi Blye and Marty Deeks taking their relationship to the next level by deciding to move in together. Will fans be hearing wedding bells next?

Daniella Ruah, who plays Kensi on the series, is set to give birth to her second child in real life, but according to the series' showrunners, a pregnancy and a quick marriage are not in the blueprint for the "Densi" couple. Apparently, the showrunners want a proper proposal to set the stage for the characters' union.

Hence, it looks like another angle will be explored to make Ruah's temporary exit from the show more realistic.

Executive producer Scott Gemmill has previously teased of a life-altering situation that Kensi will go through in the upcoming installment, and it looks like this will be the direction Ruah's character will take as she goes on maternity leave.

It could have something to do with the season 7 villain, Tahir Khaled (Anslem Richardson) who put the entire team in danger. Apparently, Kensi will be sent to do a mysterious assignment that may be related to Khaled.

There are also speculations that Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) will get a new partner in "NCIS: Los Angeles" season 8 while Kensi is "away" on a mission. However, Ruah has given word that fans will not even realize she's been absent from the series based on the arc being prepared for her character. She said the writers were able to work around her pregnancy seamlessly and that there will not be any hiccups at all to her storyline.

Meanwhile, LL Cool J, who plays Sam Hanna on the series, hinted that someone might die in season 8. He said the upcoming installment will see the entry of a Syrian terrorist, and fans are assuming the death will have something to do with the villain. Will it be connected to Khaled, too? Will Kensi's life be in danger again as it was last season?

The answers to those questions will come when "NCIS: Los Angeles" season 8 returns to CBS on Oct. 2.