Hey guys, so I had this idea after I read another fanfic that inspired me to watch episode 1x6 again, and then this sort of popped into my mind. It's about the woman who turned Callen off of cops. It's kind of sad, but after I saw that look that Callen had after Giordano said that whoever she was, she must have been quite a woman, this scenario just kind of took hold. First NCIS:LA fanfic, so please be gentle!

And P.S., I have to say, in the actual series, I'm not much of a Kensi/Callen fan, but for some reason, I really enjoy the pair on fan fiction, so for this story, they are together.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own thoughts.

Kensi flopped down on her back, breathing heavily as she pulled the sheets up around her. She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips, nor the breathless giggles that followed. "Wow," was all she could say.

An arm reached over to pull her closer, closing around her waist and squeezing tightly. G. Callen levered himself up slightly on his other arm as he repositioned himself closer to his – agent? Girlfriend? One night stand? He didn't really know at this point, but for the time being, he was willing to let it go and just enjoy the moment.

"Mmm hmm," he replied contentedly.

Kensi turned over slightly underneath his grasp and flung her own arm over his back, pulling him, if possible, closer. She wasn't sure entirely what had happened, only that, if she was being honest with herself, she had wanted it to happen for some time now. The sexual tension had finally reached its breaking point, and she and Callen had responded, cultivating in an amazing night together. But where do we go from here? She thought, confused. She knew Callen wasn't a 'long-term' kind of guy, and while she didn't know the reason behind that mindset, she had learned a few snippets here and there to piece together an incomplete picture.

Callen sighed, not willing to open his eyes to face the reality that was slowly creeping in with each passing minute. He knew that what had just happened was wrong. But then why did it feel so right? He had just crossed 'the line' in every way, shape, and imagination. And yet he couldn't bring himself to care.

Kensi opened her eyes to look at the man next to her. She felt like she should say something, but she wasn't sure what. She settled on, "So, I guess you changed your mind about the whole 'no law enforcement' rule."

Kensi put on an attempted smile, but let it fall when she saw an opposite reaction from Callen. His mouth twisted in a frown for just a moment before he smoothed it out.

"Sorry," Kensi tried to apologize, not quite sure what had upset him so much about her statement.

Callen didn't respond. He was too busy watching another time and place flash through his mind, as if he were watching a movie on the back of his eyelids.

No, G! Stay with me, please!

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm here, just hold on…

No!

"Callen?"

Kensi's voice called Callen back to the present, and he opened his eyes. She was watching him with concern evident in every feature of her face. He reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

He tried to smile. "I'm fine," he said, but he could tell from the slight life of her eyebrows that she wasn't buying it.

With a sigh, Kensi propped her head up on her hand, leaning on her elbow as she fixed Callen with a stern gaze. "I know you better than that, G," she replied, as her left arm rubbed smooth, reassuring circles on his waist, underneath the sheet. A pleading note crept into her voice as she struggled to keep it even. "Please talk to me, G, you know you can talk to me."

Callen gazed into her eyes as he tried to decide. He had never told anyone before, after the briefings, and the reports; he had locked it all up, buried it, refused to let it come out. He wasn't sure if he could open the door even slightly without letting the dam break. It was a lifetime ago to him, and had probably been some of the happiest moments of his life.

And then it was over. In the blink of an eye, the pull of a trigger, it had all ended. No restarts, no second chances, because in life there are no do-overs. And as much as he wanted to, he couldn't go back. He couldn't fix it. No matter how much he wished it had been him, he couldn't change what had happened.

He saw the reassuring smile on Kensi's lips and he made up his mind. He could let her in; trust wasn't something that came easily to him, but he trusted his team. And Kensi was always there watching his back. Something had shifted between the two of them, just enough for him to believe that things had changed enough that he might be willing to revise his 'rule number one', as he sometimes referred to it. Dating law enforcement might not be so bad, if it were Kensi.

He sighed and opened his mouth.


Callen pulled his gun out of its holster and made sure it was loaded properly. As he was finishing the check-up, he reached out and, on cue, another weapon was placed in his waiting palm. He glanced up with a smile, sparing a moment to marvel at how good Agent Nichols looked in stealth wear.

As if she knew what he was thinking, she raised her eyebrow and shook her head slightly. "So not the time, G," she admonished, smirking slightly.

Callen returned the smirk and ignored her. "I ever tell you how good you look in black?" he asked innocently.

Special Agent Audrey Nichols, FBI, shook her head again, but couldn't stop her smile from widening. He just had that affect on her. She reached up to unclasp the silver chain around her neck. With her right hand, she gently removed the princess cut diamond from her left ring finger. Threading it onto the chain, she once again attached the necklace around her neck.

Finally ready, Callen made a signal to the back-up waiting ten yards behind them, a mixture of FBI and DEA agents. Just two fingers held up silently, but they all knew what it meant.

One more glance at the woman standing next to him. When she met his eyes, he whispered, "Now and forever."

A small smile, as she answered just as quietly, "Forever and always."

It wasn't much, but it was all they needed. It was their routine every morning before they left for work, every task force they ever went on-together or apart. They never said goodbye. Goodbyes were final things, endings. It was to court with the devil to put such finality on anything.

Counting to three silently, Callen gave a hard nod, turning the doorknob and letting the door open slightly and silently. Callen rushed in first, Audrey close on his heels.

The house was silent as they hurried through the empty halls. They managed to clear the first floor completely before a noise drew their eyes up to the ceiling.

Looking at each other, and needing no further communication, they silently hurried up the stairs, once again with Callen in the lead.

The sound of footsteps drew them to a room at the end of the hall. Without wasting more time, Callen kicked the door down and went in gun first.

It only took a split second for him to realize that something was wrong before he heard a blast, and he felt a fire rip through his shoulder. He stumbled, unable to stop the grunt of pain from escaping his lips, but he kept his gun straight, looking for any shadows that would give away movement.

Audrey gasped behind him as she heard the gun, moving quickly to stand next to him. Her training was telling her adamantly to secure the room, to find the shooter; but every fiber of her being was telling that training to go screw itself. She had seen the stumble, heard the grunt, and she knew that the bullet had met its mark. Her fiancé was hurt, and she needed to make sure he was OK.

Callen could almost hear the inner debate, and he needed to get her head back in the game. This was no time to falter. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, but he knew she got the message. He was fine; he had to be, for her sake.

Callen jerked his head, and Audrey, understanding completely, moved sideways towards the closet. Callen moved in the opposite direction, noticing a partially open door on the other wall, leading to what he guessed was an en suite bathroom.

He took another step forward and felt himself droop significantly. He stumbled again and went down on one knee. Damn it, was all he could think as he leaned forward, watching his vision go blurry around the edges.

Audrey saw Callen drop, and felt her heart stop. "G," she cried out in a loud whisper. She immediately changed course, heading over to her fiancé, watching as if in slow motion, she saw him fall, and was unable to breathe when she saw the blood seeping from what looked like his chest onto the floor. She knelt next to him, forgetting for the moment that they were in the room with an armed felon. All that mattered to her was that the love of her life was slowly losing consciousness on this cold, hard, wooden floor in the middle of nowhere, Texas.

"Come on, Callen, stay with me," she pleaded as she glanced quickly around the room, searching for movement. "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere, so don't you go either," she whispered.

Audrey and Callen heard the click at the same time. She turned slowly, and found herself facing down the barrel of a .45 Smith and Wesson. The man carrying the gun smiled cruelly and made a gesture that she couldn't mistake.

Defeated, she lowered her 9 millimeter, and shoved it towards him. She had to lock her gaze on their captor, refuse to look down at Callen, afraid of what she might see. He didn't seem to be conscious anymore, and felt her heart leap into her throat at that thought.

She saw the man's lips move, but she couldn't quite make out the words; it was as if she was standing at the end of a tunnel; she could feel her vision going dark, and she struggled to make herself concentrate.

She saw the gun lower slightly, and she closed her eyes in defeat. The sound of the firing gun was muted, and she barely felt anything as she fell to the ground.

Callen heard the gun go off again, and forced his eyes open. Seeing Audrey on the ground next to him lit a fire in his gut. He raised his gun up and fired three times, hitting the fugitive squarely in the back. By the time the man hit the floor dead, he was unconscious.

And that was how their backup found them less than a minute later.


Kensi listened in silence, her eyes tearing up as so much was revealed to her in so short a time. It explained a lot. When Callen stopped talking abruptly, she leaned over to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. "What happened next?" she asked quietly.

Callen swallowed harshly and made himself continue. He had made it this far, and he owed it to both of them to finish. "I woke up in the hospital two days later," he replied. "Audrey was declared DOA."

Kensi sucked in her breath. She had guessed that that's where the story would end, but it was still like a punch to the gut to actually hear it. "I'm so sorry," was all she could say.

Callen nodded. He couldn't put it into words, but he really appreciated that Kensi was here, listening to him, watching him practically break down, and she wasn't running. He got up, pulling on his boxers, and headed over to his dresser. A distant part of his brain made a mental note to thank Hetty for hooking him up with a house he could actually see himself living in for more than a month.

Digging around the sock drawer for a minute, he returned to the bed and the waiting Kensi, this time with a small jewelry box in hand. Sitting down on her side of the bed, he turned the box over in his hands a few times, before twisting around and handing it to her.

Kensi sat up, leaning against the headboard as she took the box in trembling fingers. She looked up at Callen, and, at his nod, she opened it. Inside was an engagement ring. Two small sapphires framed the princess cut diamond in the middle. It was beautiful, and Kensi felt her breath catch in her throat. Even after hearing this story, it was still shocking to see the proof that Callen had, at one point, trusted someone enough to embark on the most intimate and ultimate journey of life. And he clearly had good taste.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, unable to speak louder or to tear her eyes away from the ring in her hands.

"Well enough, I suppose," Callen shrugged. "It was Audrey's great grandmother's." A hard edge crept into his voice, and Kensi could tell it was more of an anger at his own past and lack of such history or heirlooms than anything else. "Her parents gave it to me when I told them I was going to propose. After her-" Callen stopped for a moment and swallowed visibly, before continuing again. "They told me to keep it after she died, so that I would have something to remember her by." He shook his head and murmured, "Not that I need any physical object to remember." He hoped she wouldn't hear the self loathing in the words, but of course she did.

"Hey," she soothed, placing the ring next to her so that she could lean forward and give Callen an awkward hug. He didn't respond, other than to lean into the embrace. "It wasn't your fault," she whispered, rubbing his back relaxingly.

Callen nodded into her shoulder, and finally let himself cry. He had bottled it all up for so long, refused to let the emotions out, and now it was all catching up to him.

Kensi held on, shocked but refusing to show it. She had never seen Callen break down like this. He really must have loved this Audrey, and she doubted he had let himself cry after it had happened.

It could have been five minutes or five hours, but finally, Callen's sobs subsided. He straightened up, wiping his eyes, and winced. He had not meant for that to happen, and he tried not to show his embarrassment too much.

"Sorry," he grimaced, getting up quickly and heading over to the opposite end of the room, searching for something superficial to do, some distraction.

Kensi grabbed Callen's shirt from the floor and slipped it on, doing up the buttons as she walked over to join Callen at the window, where he had settled. She silently looked out with him, taking in the neighborhood. "I have to say, G," she started, feeling him tense next to her, and she smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder, wrapping her arm around his waist. "I didn't think I'd ever see you settle down anywhere, but I totally see you here." She squeezed her arm, pulling him closer. "It really fits."

Callen sighed relieved with the change of topic. He rested his head on top of hers and closed his eyes, letting a genuine smile adorn his face. For the first time in fifteen years, he felt—hope. This, whatever it was between him and Kensi, felt right. Like slipping into an old routine. His thoughts wandered back to the box still sitting on the bed, and he knew that sometime in the future he might be showing it to her for a completely different reason. And he knew that she would accept it. It might not have been his family heirloom, but it belonged to the family he had hoped to become a part of one day, a long time ago. It was the one possession he had that meant anything, and everything, to him, and he wanted her to have it.

Some day.

Well, what do you think? It's just a one-shot for now, but I've got a couple of ideas if you guys want more. Maybe just a couple more chapters. I'll let the reviews decide, so let me know!

I love REVIEWS!