A/N: Wow! I am absolutly blown away by the response to this! Thank you all for taking the time to read my attempt at writing, and especially to those who reviewed. That'll teach me to wait so long to write anything next time!

On with the story...

Deeks woke as a familiar ball of straggly fur catapulted itself up into the middle of the bed. "Urghh" he groaned, as his eyes slowly opened to see the morning sun streaming through the windows. It was a Sunday, there were no pending cases, and so he resigned himself to a day spent alone. Glancing at his alarm clock beside his bed, he figured he had just enough time to get down to the beach and get in some good surf before the tourists descended.

Wait, where did Monty go? Why wasn't the excitable dog attacking his face like every other morning? And then he heard it.

"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too, Monty". A sleepy voice rasped.

He froze.

He had dreamed of that voice at least a thousand times over the past 4 months, and yet to hear it coming from behind him was better than any dream his mind could come up with. Slowly, he rolled over to face the voice, and he saw her - Kensi. She was in his bed, with Monty climbing all over her like an excitable puppy. She was trying to avoid his frantic licks and as she turned her face away from the crazy dog, their eyes met.

The whole world seemed to pause at that exact moment and he stared at her without moving an inch, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Hi", she whispered. He watched her bite her lower lip as if she was nervous. She looked thinner than the last time he had seen her, and there were dark circles under her eyes that hadn't been there before. His eyes drank her dark, wavy hair strewn across his pillow and her mismatched eyes alive with what he could only describe as anticipation and flashes of joy. All he could think about was how beautiful she was.

Sitting up, he gathered Monty in his arms and rather unceremoniously dropped him onto the floor beside the bed, before turning back to Kensi, as she lay watching his every move. Leaning forward, he reached out an arm and wrapped it around her waist, before lowering his head towards hers. "Hi" he whispered, and he covered her lips with his own. He poured every single feeling he had into that kiss. It was firm and passionate, soft and loving, and told her just how much he had missed her. He had thought about how their next kiss would be over and over, and yet it was so much more than he had imagined.

Kensi couldn't help the moan that escaped her as Deeks lips met hers. He had spoken barely one word to her and yet here she was, a puddle of emotions completely at his mercy.

Suddenly, he pulled away from her and lifted his head. "Wait," he asked incredulously, "you mean you didn't think to, oh I don't know, wake me up!?"

She couldn't help but smirk at the affronted look he had on his face before she reached out and brushed her palm against his stubbled cheek. "I was tired", she answered with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

"You were tired? That's it? 4 months of nothing, no phone calls, no texts, no gazing at my handsome face and you just want to go to sleep? I can't belie…." Deeks stopped mid rant as he noticed Kensi struggling to hold in the giggles that had overcome her.

"Oh, you're messing with me huh?" He asked, that lopsided grin of his appearing on his face. "You really think that's a good idea in the position you are in, Fern?" His hand at her waist started to move up to tickle her sensitive sides. He whispered against the shell of her ear, causing her to shiver. "You trying to start something?" He pounced, rearing up off his elbow to tickle her with both hands, but as he did so she suddenly flinched violently as if in pain.

"What? Oh, god, Kens – what did I do?" he asked frantically, removing his hands from her body immediately and holding them up in surrender.

"Sorry", she answered, letting out a puff of air as if breathing through pain. "Forgot to mention the bruised ribs….I'm fine though. Just give me a second….."Deeks gave her that look, the one that said "I know you're lying so stop it because I know you better than I know myself".

He lay back down beside her and shuffled himself forward until they were almost nose to nose. Slowly, he reached out and took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and resting them on her abdomen. "Tell me", he requested as he held her gaze.

He could see she was faltering, trying to appear strong and tough like the Bad Ass Blye he first knew, but he could tell that she so desperately wanted to trust him, to unburden the weight of the mission onto his strong shoulders.

He waited for her to speak, his fingers gently stroking the back of her hand.

She sighed before speaking. "2 bruised ribs, left side, still healing. Gunshot wound to the right thigh, thankfully just a graze and pretty much healed now. Some nasty cuts and scrapes on my back that got infected, but I was started on medication last week so they aren't so bad now, and a broken finger on my left hand."

He glanced down as she waved her free hand in the air to show the discoloured pinky. He felt sick to his stomach as the words tumbled out of her mouth. Just what exactly had she been through? And who in hell had been watching her back for her to get hurt like that? All he wanted to do was gather her up in his arms and never let her leave his sight again. He closed his eyes for a moment as he pushed the anger back down from where it had appeared. Now was not the time to think about these things – it was the time to revel in the fact that she was here with him, and she wasn't going anywhere ever again if he had anything to do with it. Which he was going to, Hetty be damned.

Deeks opened his eyes again to find Kensi staring at him, nervousness plain to see in her expression. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss in the centre of her forehead. "Well it's a good job you've got nurse Deeks here to bring you back to health", he told her with a cheeky smirk she knew only too well. "And just in case you were wondering, I am excellent at sponge baths".