Here's the next one, hope you enjoy it.
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Two.

At first he had no idea where to go, only to get away from them. After he called the cab and had gotten in, he realized where the perfect space for hiding was. They wouldn't find him there and that was the intention.
They hadn't called, but then again they couldn't. Despite the technology, this little space along the shore provided no signal. From where he was sitting he could see the entire beach, but they couldn't see him. And that's why he saw Kensi pass by, but she had no idea he was this close. The fact that she came to this beach warmed his heart a bit, but not enough to come out of hiding. He noticed her standing there, scanning the water, the beach. He could even see the anguish on her face, but still felt no need to come out. The hurt was still there and still too fresh to put aside. She finally made a phone call and left again.

Darkness fell even more and he woke up when he heard someone approach his hiding spot. He was on edge straight away. His hand reached for his gun. No one knew about this hiding place and it could perhaps be someone who just happened to pass by closely. But the more he listened the more he was sure the person was coming straight for this place. He now picked up the gun and silently removed the safety. Ever muscle tense, he was ready to jump on the trespasser. He believed he was ready for everything.
'Marty, can I come in? ' okay he wasn't prepared for that one. It wasn't Kensi, it wasn't Callen or Sam, not even the few people who still liked him back at the LAPD. No it was someone that was never far from his mind, but someone he didn't expect to be here.
'Sarah?'
She clearly took him saying her name as a yes as her head popped between the army net covering the entrance to the place. Soon the rest of her body followed.
'Hey handsome' she said. That cracked a smile.
'You don't look so bad yourself' he replied taking her in. Her dark brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, it even seemed to move on his own. Her clothing, a dark skirt, a white blouse and black leather jacket cling to her, revealing her slender physique underneath. Normally she would stand just a little shorter than him, but her high heels sank in the sand, revealing she was indeed a few inches shorter than him.
There had been a time where he looked differently at her, and she probably at him, but that was past them. Now she was a good friend, someone to care about no matter what happened and that was what he needed.
'You ready to come out of hiding?' She asked.
'I haven't been hiding.' He replied.
'no?' she asked 'because from what I gather you disappeared from the grid for hours. No gps, no signal nothing. I happen to be one of the very few who know this place blocks any cell phone signal or gps signal. ' she said.
He looked at her with his puppy eyes.
'Listen, Marty I can only assume something happened to you and it hurt. But you can't stay in here forever, you've got to face the world at some point.' Yeah, sure she had to choose this moment to become immune for his sad puppy look.
'beside, I'm starving' she added smiling, that even got him smiling. Sarah was good company, but not when she was starving and somehow the big bad world seemed less scary than being in a small place with a grumpy Sarah. So he got up and went out, with Sarah hot on his tale.

As they stepped out, he stretched and turned to look at her. She held out her cell phone but had the decency to look a bit guilty. But he nodded. At this moment he might have felt the need for depression and taking pity on himself, he wasn't a complete jerk and perhaps the team knowing he was safe might be able to get them out his hair.

Half an hour later they sat against the wall of a small, almost deserted beach side restaurant. Both had a burger in front of them with a large basket of fries between them.
'What are you doing here?' He asked.
'Helping you out' was the short reply.
'Okay, but what were you doing in LA.'
'You mean what I was doing before I got the third degree about you? ' she asked, letting him know that his trick wasn't helping. He only nodded.
'Danny and I were here to finish up on her case. We were getting ready to get to the airport when I got the phone call.' She said.
'And where is Danny now?' she looked at him, but yet answered.
'probably halfway to New York.'

'Care to enlighten me why I suddenly get a phone call from one angry lady about you?' Sarah asked breaking the silence that had fallen because both had devoured pretty much their entire burger.
'I assume it was Hetty. She's supposed to be my boss'
'Ah, and what does you supposed to be boss do for a living?'
'She's the operational manager of the special ops team of NCIS' That earned him a look by Sarah.
'What? You're not the only one who could pull it off.' He said.
'So, you're a special agent?'
'No, I'm the liaison officer between NCIS and LAPD, but Hetty offered me a position as a real agent.'
'And that counts for something.' She smiled.
'Yeah it does.' He smiled back.

Once again silence fell down between them, but it wasn't a difficult one. It never was between them. They could just sit next to each other, exist next to each other and that would be enough. Knowing the other was around was enough for him. How Hetty had figured out things about Sarah he didn't know, and part of him didn't even want to know t, but he was glad she did. Because Sarah was what he needed at the moment.
At this moment, he hadn't told Sarah anything about the real reason, but she didn't ask. She just sat next to him, taking in the scenery, enjoying each other's company. Sarah trusted him blindly, and he returned the favor. And that was what he needed right now, knowing that there was someone who had his back, no matter what.

After an hour, and it well being on its way to midnight they left the restaurant.
'you still have the place around here?' He asked Sarah as they slowly made their way.
'Yeah, why'
'Don't feel like spending time at my place.' The look Sarah send him told him he better got clean about whatever what was troubling him. He would when they got to the house.
Suddenly he saw movement coming from the left and it took him just a second to react to it.
'Sarah! Get down'.

The entire crew was still at the mission, everyone refusing to go home.
Hetty watched the action, or better lack of action in the bullpen. 3 dejected agents sat at their desks, staring into nothing. Well perhaps not in to nothing as they all had their gaze on the screen in the corner. On that screen Eric showed his search for Deeks's cell phone. It showed a map of LA, but the tell tale dot that would tell them the owner, or at least where the phone was, was missing and it frustrated everyone.

Hetty assumed they were somehow willing for the dot to appear, but hours had passed by and the screen remained blank. And the more the time passed the more worried she got. Deeks was a loner, but that was also his strength. He managed to hold his own out there in the world. He had spend years alone, with no one watching his back or providing a plan B when everything went wrong. It had been an adjustment for him to work in a team, a team that seemed to care and had his back. He had been so used to the rejection he felt from the LAPD that she thought she had made a mistake bringing him in. But slowly Deeks started to fit in and the partnership between Kensi and him started to work. He would drive her crazy, he would and could drive everyone crazy, but underneath that easy going, spreading lame jokes around kind a guy hid a professional. Even Sam came to admire him, although she knew he wouldn't admit that.

Deeks had something the rest of the team lacked. He had a sunny disposition, almost childlike. Everyday seemed to be a new adventure for him and he intended to live it to the fullest. The 3 others were hard, sometime cold professionals. Not that they didn't do their jobs, they were the best, but sometimes they seemed to lose contact with the outer world, to lose a connection to how the real world actually worked, without the secrecy and the lies. Deeks brought that to the group and it had seemed like a connection that worked well. Well until today that was. After establishing that nothing had happened to him, that he hadn't been taken by some vicious gang an another fear crept up her spine.
Walking away had been a conscious decision and she wondered what had led to the Detective making this choice. And she knew, by looking at the remaining 3 members of the team she knew she was looking at the cause, the origin of the man's decision. Solving that would take more time and some harsh words uttered at the right time. But it had to wait. First he had to be found, safe and sound. If that didn't happen, she wasn't sure she would have a team left to re assemble.

At first she didn't want to make the call, but seconds turned in to minutes and and more frustrated pair of technical aids. They had been able to follow his trail until suddenly the dot disappeared from the screen. It had been there for only a short period and Eric didn't have enough to pinpoint the last known location. That had sealed the deal and she had retreated to her office and searched for his file. She leafed through it until she found the number.

Her cell phone ringing shook her out of her thoughts and when she looked at the number her heart skipped a beat.
'Lange' she answered, and managed to keep her voice emotionless.
'It's Sarah' the woman on the other side said. Hetty listened very carefully to the background noises, they or Sarah at least was near the beach as she could hear the waves crashing in .
'Miss McArthur, what's the news'
'found him.' The two words made a smile appear on her face, not for long though.
'He's not ready to come back, though. I'll keep an eye on him, but it's best to leave him alone for awhile. '
'Okay, I'll respect that' she replied. She wasn't happy about it, but knew she had to trust the other woman.
'Miss McArthur?'
'Yes'
'Call me if you need anything.'
Silence met her, but she could still hear the waves in the background so the line was still there. She could almost imagine the scene if they were still together at that point.
'I will' and then she heard the noise of someone ending a phone call and the line went death.

Her eyes hurt from watching the screen but she couldn't look away, afraid that the dot that would be him appear without her noticing. Hours passed but she didn't give up on the staring game. A quick sideway glance told her the others were doing the same.

With all her might she wished for the dot to appear but nothing happed. But she kept hoping, even praying because she was afraid what would happen if she didn't. The more time passed the more the walls around her felt like crumbling. He was her partner for crying out loud, he wasn't supposed to walk out on her. But surprisingly that wasn't what hurt the most. No what hurt the most was that clearly the reason for walking out on her, had to be found with her. Callen and Sam, well they worked together but they didn't spend as much time with him as she did. No it was not something they did, but something she did that made him turn away from them.

In her mind she played out the tape in the garage, watching him walk away. If only she knew what was going on inside that thick head of his, they wouldn't be sitting here. They wouldn't need to find him because he would be home watching some TV and coming back to work the next day.
If only she asked what was wrong, why he was so quiet on the drive back, then she would ….
The train of thoughts came to a screeching halt when the realization hit home. It was like a ton of bricks fell right on top of her and she felt the air getting knocked out of her. If only they asked him. They never did. They never did ask him something, they just expected him to be there. Even tonight they didn't ask him if he was alright because they never did. He usually was the one updating them. And he almost always used the sentence: I'm okay as well, should anyone care.

They did, well she did for sure. More than she would ever admit. But she never showed it, never let him know she did think about him during the ops, especially during the fire fights. She could blame it on her father and how he had died back then, when she was just a and her need to shut out the rest of the world. But she knew it was bullshit the minute occurred to her. He changed for the team, he tried to fit in the voice inside her head chastised her. And there was no denying it. Deeks had changed, or at least tried to change from a loner to a team player and he was getting pretty good at it. But only to be stonewalled by the rest. They ridiculed him, sometimes even questioned his actions and she never defended him, her partner. No, more than often would join in the fun. At one point the fun part was lost, well clearly for him but she had been too self-absorbed to realize it. And now it was too late. He had made the decision to go back to the place, the world he knew the best. The world where he was on his own.

Her mind heard the cell phone noise back, somewhere from Hetty's desk. But it didn't transfer to her brain. No, she was focusing on the screen in the corner and more specifically on the dot that had suddenly appeared out of now where.
They had found him, now it would be only a matter of time before they would see him again. She made a promise to herself. She would tell him how much she needed him, how much she respected him and how much he meant to the team.

'Mr Beale' Eric's head popped up from the screen of his tablet as their boss entered the bullpen.
'I need you to track this number' Hetty said as she gave him a small piece of paper. Questions marks were clearly visible in his eyes, but he did as his boss told him to do and entered the digits in the system. It didn't take long to him to find who the number belonged to.
'ah, that was quick' he said, getting the attention of the rest of the team.
He pushed some buttons and the screen he was looking at now also showed on the screen.
'Okay, this is strange. The number belongs to Sarah McArthur. She's a FBI agent, stationed at New York. She's part of the missing persons team.' He said as he read the file he had been able to pull up.
'what's strange about that Eric?' Sam asked.
'I'm tracking the number, Sam and she or at least the phone is at the same spot Deeks is.'
A smile appeared on Hetty's face. ' so she's still with him.'
'What do you mean, she's still with him?' Callen demanded from his boss 'what aren't you telling us?'
'Hetty, what' he been doing in the company of an FBI agent?'
'What Miss McArthur does for a living isn't important.' Hetty said.
'Mr. Beale see if you can find some images for us'. The blond man nodded and started to work.
'What's important? Why are you happy she's with him?' Kensi asked.
'Because, Miss Blye, with Miss McArthur at his side, Mr. Deeks is in the presence of a friend'.