Disclaimer - still not mine.

Week 2

Work was slower this week. Kensi finished up her paperwork and was about to head home. She glanced at Trey, sitting at Deeks' desk. This wasn't right. She really hoped that the assignment he was on right now was finished soon. She needed to know she had his back, needed to just have HIM back.

She had spent the last week over analyzing every wink, every smile. She knew that most of what he said about other women was pure talk, but it still made her jealous as hell. Not that she would ever admit that.

And while neither of them ever admitted it, they had a thing.

She was definitely attracted to him, but now that he was gone, she knew it went a lot farther than just basic attraction. She found herself missing his boyish charm, his inappropriate jokes, his smile. Things she hadn't realized made a difference before, she now fully understood how much of it she needed. She needed him. As if that wasn't the craziest thing, she knew it was because she loved him. And had for a long time.

Driving home, she thought of all the times he had pushed her, and she had pushed back even harder. She wished now that she had been able to give in a little more. She realized that her thoughts were making it seem that he wasn't coming back, and there was no way she could even begin to fathom that. There would be time when he got back to rectify this, them. She was going to make sure that he knew what he meant to her.

When she got home, she was mentally exhausted. She ate the left over pizza, had a beer and went to bed.

The next morning she got up, feeling a little better. She put her jogging clothes on and was about to step outside when something caught her attention. On her step, next to the door, was a potted plant. She gasped, and started looking around. It was a fern. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, she picked it up and took it inside. Was there a note? She didn't see one, so she lifted the pot up, and low and behold, there was the light purple piece of paper, and pulled it off carefully so she didn't tear it.

Fern – how perfect is this?! A little something so you don't forget me. Smile sunshine! – D

Why the hell would he get her a plant?! He KNOWS that she can't keep anything alive. She killed a damn cactus for god's sake. Well damn it all, she was going to do everything possible to keep this thing alive until he at least got back. Smiling, she put the fern on the table and went for her run.

When she got home, she looked at the fern on her table. Did it already look like it was wilting? SERISOULY?! No no NO. She was not killing the plant as soon as she got it. She showered and dressed quickly, taking the plant with her. She had just enough time to stop by the store to get some reading material on how to keep this thing alive.

Picking up several books on how to care for plants, she drove to work. Why the hell did he have to give her this? It was a joke, a sick joke. And she was not laughing. Neither would he if he got and she had managed to kill it. It was now her life's mission to keep this thing alive.

Walking in, books and fern in hand, she was ready for the snarky comments coming her way. Before anyone could even lift an eyebrow at her predicament, she put her best glare on her face.

"If anyone so much as breathes on this thing, I will shoot you. Mutter one word about it, and I will kill you before you finish the thought."

She set the books and the plant down, praying to everything that was holy that the guys would keep their mouths shut.

She read for about 15 minutes. Okay, she could do this. Don't keep it in direct sunlight. Check. Likes humid places. Check. Make sure it's watered. Check. Come one, she's a special agent, she could do this! UGH she can't do this, she thought. She was killing Deeks when he got back. Death by Fern. In more ways than one.

Hearing the whistle from Eric, she put the books away. She could see the looks from Sam, Callen and Trey, but they were smart enough not to say anything. All of them looked from the plant to her before trudging up the stairs.

Three days later, after immersing herself in the case that had come in, she slowly walked to her desk. What she saw melted her heart. Sam, in all his manly glory, was watering her fern, checking the soil and making sure he didn't over water it.

She walked up to him. "Thank you, Sam. That means more than you will ever know."

"I have an idea of the importance, Kensi. Don't worry, we will make sure Fern is ok. We won't let anything happen to it." She could hear the double meaning in his words and smiled. Deciding the leave the fern at work, where at least it had a fighting chance of surviving with the help of the team, she gave Sam a quick hug and went home.

AN - Thank you all so so very much for all the alerts on this story. I hope you liked this chapter. :)