Author's Note: Not to sound like a broken record, but I really want to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I can't quite believe how positive the response has been, and it really warmed my heart - especially as this was my first "adventure" writing in this fandom. I know I haven't yet responded individually to the reviews, but please know that each and every one has been tremendously appreciated. After a lot of thinking about it, I have decided that this will be the final chapter for this story...I considered extending it through the final two episodes of season four, but I think based on the promos/spoilers we're getting, there will be so much drama and excitement onscreen that they won't need any embellishment from me.

This final chapter is, I hope, fun though...we revisit Sam and get a side pairing with another couple of characters that I hope you'll all enjoy. I do also have a couple of ideas for other fics in this fandom that have started to take root in my imagination and I look forward to writing them as time permits! Hope everyone enjoys the last two episodes of the season, and I'm crossing my fingers for some Densi goodness onscreen!

Disclaimer: Sadly, none of the characters are mine, no matter how much I might wish it were otherwise.


Sam Hanna – The Sunday morning following Resurrection

Sam ambles slowly into his home office, a shot of wheatgrass juice clutched in one hand and the Sunday morning paper in the other. Sunlight streams through the room's wide windows, falling across his desk and landing on his laptop causing its metal casing to gleam far too brightly for his liking considering how early it is – normally he wouldn't be awake yet on a Sunday morning. But despite getting in fairly late from the game the night before, his sleep had been restless and he'd woken early. Knowing it would be difficult to go back to bed after that, he'd decided he might as well get up after all and enjoy what was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

He'd tried rousing the kids for breakfast shortly after he'd gotten up, but they were both still worn out from the previous evening and he'd taken pity on them and decided to let them sleep a bit longer. Though given his daughter's half-sarcastic, half-sleepy response when he'd attempted waking her up, he knew he'd be having a word – or ten – with Deeks come Monday morning. The mumbled "Really?! It's Sunday!" his daughter had greeted him with had sounded far too much like the scruffy detective liaison for Sam. It was bad enough he had to listen to that sort of thing most of the day at work – he did not want his children picking up that particular habit. This is exactly the kind of thing I was afraid of and the reason why I didn't want him anywhere near this house, Sam thinks with a gruff snort. But I needed Kensi, and she insisted.

Thinking of Deeks and Kensi draws Sam's attention to the laptop once again and he moves quietly to his desk, sitting and setting the wheatgrass shot and his paper off to the side. He stares at the computer contemplatively, knowing that the files with all of the Nanny-cam footage from the last 12 hours are stored there and debating with himself over whether or not he should watch it.

He thinks back to his arrival home last night. It had been good to go to the Clippers game with his partner – and even better to get a chance to rib him about a certain colleague in Des Moines – but he'd been glad to get back home afterwards too. Balancing work and being there for the kids while Michelle is out of the country, not to mention worrying about her, was starting to take its toll on him and he'd been feeling on the verge of exhaustion recently. He'd been looking forward to settling into bed and knowing that he didn't have to be anywhere the next morning. Unfortunately sleep didn't come any easier last night than it did the night before, he realizes with a rueful shake of his head.

When he'd let himself in, he'd found Kensi and Deeks sitting together on his sofa watching a movie and laughing about something over a bowl of popcorn. They were close together on the couch, but not extraordinarily so, and while they both looked slightly rumpled there was nothing that indicated to him that that was due to anything other than keeping up with two energetic kids for several hours. A quick scan of the room showed that everything seemed to be in its proper place and, with a relieved smile, he'd said goodnight to them both. After hugging Kensi and clapping Deeks on the shoulder, he'd watched them walk to Kensi's car, still talking and laughing, though Sam couldn't hear about what. He'd gone and checked in on both his son and daughter, noting that everything seemed perfectly fine.

There had been nothing concrete. Nothing. No reason to think that if he watched that footage he'd see any out of the ordinary behavior from the junior agent and her partner. And yet…he couldn't be completely sure. Though there'd been nothing overt when he'd observed them last night, Kensi and Deeks had been awfully cozy on that couch and the more he thought about it, the less sure Sam became. Kensi's hair had been awfully ruffled, and Deeks' smirk seemed a bit…extra smug. And they were sharing the same blanket…and they drove away together in Kensi's car. But none of that means anything one way or the other. But at that precise moment, Deeks' joke from a few nights earlier about doing his "best work" on camera suddenly floats back into Sam's mind. He shakes his head quickly yet briefly to help steer his thoughts away from a place he'd really rather not go.

Look, he tells himself, there are two possibilities. Either they got up to something, or they didn't. Either way, the kids are safe and healthy – they're totally fine. The rest is none of my damn business.

Decision made, Sam opens up the laptop and quickly hits a sequence of keys, erasing the Nanny-cam footage from the previous evening. After all, speculation and innuendo are all well and good, and banter and teasing each other is practically a requirement for being on their team. But though he can't prove that anything inappropriate actually happened between Kensi and Deeks in the first place, Sam doesn't want to take the risk of watching the tapes and finding out.

There are some things about your co-workers, he thinks, that a man just doesn't need to know.


Eric Beale and Nell Jones – The Raven and the Swans

Nell can't help but laugh as she sits down, curling her legs up underneath her and settling her carton of beef lo mein on her lap. "Wait, wait wait –" she manages to get out, leaning over to pick up a pair of chopsticks that she proceeds to break apart and stab into the lo mein. "You're telling me that he was actually singing to her?!"

"Huh. Welllll, he was trying to. It didn't sound all that good," Eric says evenly, a hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

Nell just shakes her head in disbelief, another chuckle escaping at the thought of Deeks singing to Kensi, albeit badly. "I would've liked to hear that."

"Trust me, you really wouldn't have. Sounded kind of like a dying cat, to be honest," Eric murmurs, digging into his own carton of takeout.

"Ouch."

"Yeah. Guess it was for the best that his teenage rock dreams didn't pan out," Eric smiles more fully at her as he continues. "Though I don't think they would've gone far anyway with a band name like Touching Wood."

Nell chuckles again and shakes her head bemusedly before taking a bite of her food. The pair shares their dinner in companionable silence for a few moments before Eric breaks the quiet between them.

"So...the stuff that went on later. I could hear it over the comms, but…that sounded awkward…" he trails off, and when Nell looks at him again he has a sheepish look on his face, as if part of him doesn't really want to ask but another part of him is dying to know. She herself had been more than a bit embarrassed to walk in on Kensi and Deeks in that hotel room. She'd thought things had been weird when she'd interrupted their conversation in the armory a few weeks back, but nothing could have compared to seeing her two teammates rolling around together like that on the hotel's opulent bed.

She glances up at Eric, a hesitant smile tugging the corners of her mouth. "Oh, it was. You have no idea. When I got to the room, they were…um. Well, Kensi had Deeks in a headlock…sort of."

"Sort of?"

"She…uh…wasn't using her arms to pin him, if you know what I mean," Nell's eyes flick to Eric's and she tries to use the intensity of her gaze to communicate the things she doesn't quite feel comfortable spelling out explicitly. It's not that she's a prude…but these are their mutual friends and co-workers, and it was awkward for her in that moment, and as much as she wants to share the story with Eric it's somehow easier if she doesn't have to say the words "and then I saw Kensi's legs wrapped around Deeks' neck and I didn't know where to look."

Just remembering what she'd seen in that hotel room causes a blush to heat her cheeks, but luckily it seems that Eric has picked up on her meaning without her having to spell out the details – at least if the slightly flustered look he's giving her now is any indication.

"Oh my God."

"Yup."

"They were really-"

"Seemed like it."

"And you walked in on-"

"Uh huh."

"Wow."

Nell leans over to the table and picks up her beer, taking a long sip before returning the bottle to its place and picking at her food once again. "I think I should start wearing some sort of bell, or something. I mean, this isn't the first time I've interrupted something…er…personal between them."

Eric quirks a quizzical eyebrow at her, as he enjoys a bit of his own dinner. "Oh no?"

Shaking her head, she quickly recounts her experience from the armory which, while less physically overt had seemed to carry much greater emotional weight if the talk of future children between the partners was to be believed. Looking over at Eric, she sees that he seems to be lost in thought. "Eric?" she gently questions.

"Huh. Sorry. I was just thinking…it's happened to you twice, me once…what do you think the odds are the rest of the team has had similar experiences?"

She laughs then, shaking her head slightly. "Don't know…but I'd have to say, I think they're pretty darn good." Nell is quiet for a moment, continuing to enjoy her dinner, before setting the carton down next to her beer and sliding along the couch until she's right beside Eric. She leans her elbow on the back of the couch and props her chin on her hand, looking at him fondly. "I think we really actually owe them a thank you for being so…uh…obvious about it."

He puts his own carton on the table and turns to face her, mirroring her position and gazing back at her just as fondly. "How's that?"

"Wellll, since everyone's been so distracted with their, um, antics, so to speak," she says slowly, reaching out to take her boyfriend's free hand in hers, linking their fingers together. "We've been able to fly under the radar just about completely."

"You're right." Eric grins at her. "And I think I know just how to thank them…well, Deeks, at least."

"Oh?"

"Mm." Eric's grin widens. "I can delete the footage I just…uh…happened to find of Touching Wood's one and only live gig."

"Good plan, although…" Nell's eyebrows quirk upward as her face takes on a mischievous expression. "I think I have a better idea…let Kensi see it once before you destroy it. She deserves it...and then we will really have thanked them both. Even if they don't know what they're being thanked for."

"I like the way you think, Miss Jones. I like the way you think."


THE END :) :(