Callen entered the firing range as he waited for Kensi to unload her last clip into the target. She took her hearing protection off and threw it down on the table.
"If you're here to ask me if I am alright I might shoot you next." Kensi said with a smile as she turned to face Callen.
"I don't need to ask questions I already know the answers to." Callen said.
Kensi turned her back to Callen as she started taking apart the gun that was in her hands.
"Then if you are not here to ask me if I am alright, why did you come?" Kensi questioned.
"To ask you if you are sure you can handle this."
Kensi's hand stopped what she was doing and once again turned back around towards Callen. She sighed. "Did Deeks send you down here?" Kensi asked.
"No. I came on my own free will. Kensi he is worried about you, we all are. Deeks don't want your daughter to grow up without you. Look I know what you went through over there I don't want you to lose sight of the big picture."
"Let me paint a picture for you Callen, three years ago I was sent to Afghanistan to hunt and kill my ex-fiancé. My boss who I trusted more than my own mother sent me because she knew I wouldn't kill him. I was held captive in a cave, I was beaten, I was tortured, and .. I couldn't get past it. I couldn't bring myself to come back no matter how bad this team needed me. After I returned home I had no idea what I would I do with my life. I was completely lost for the first time in a long time; I didn't know who I was. Then eight months later I found out I was pregnant with Katie and suddenly I had a new meaning in life." Kensi explained.
Callen watched Kensi carefully as she told her story. "Kens, this team has always needed you, your partner needs you now more than ever but, sometimes there comes a time in life when we have to move on."
"I thought I had Callen, I really thought I had. Three years and I was free. I wasn't special agent Blye, I was momma and I loved every second of it. And this is why I have to do this. If the CIA is coming for me because of something they believe I know, something they believe Jack may have told me then we have to find out what. It has to end Callen. I can't spend every day for the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. What if they find out about Katie? Will they come for her too? Or Deeks? Or my Mom? Or you? I can't be the reason for someone else dying." Kensi explained.
Callen walked forward and handed Kensi the gun he had pulled from his desk. Kensi looked down to the gun in her hand, then back up to Callen when she realized it was her gun. "Welcome home."
"You were saving my gun?" Kensi asked with a smile.
"Let's just say something told me we hadn't seen the end of you. Now come on we have work to do." Callen explained.
"Mr. Deeks, a word please." Hetty said.
Deeks turned to look at Sam who just shrugged his shoulders. Deeks got up off the desk he had been currently leaned against and made his way to Hetty's office.
"What can I do for you Hetty?" Deeks asked.
"We seem to find ourselves in a bad situation. I know your wife doesn't like me much anymore, and I can't say that I blame her. I often wondered if Kensi's choice not to return to work for NCIS was because of what I did or because of what happened to her over there." Hetty explained.
"She felt betrayed by you. She thought she could trust you and yet you sent overseas to a war torn country to kill her ex-fiancé without even telling her. Because of your actions she was kidnapped and you can't even imagine the hell she went through over there. Do you know she still has nightmares three years later? She still wakes up in the middle of night begging them to stop and pleading for her life. You destroyed one of your best agents Hetty." Deeks explained.
"I know Mr. Deeks and I regret the choice I made every day. I tried to save Jack, he was a friend of mine, and I didn't save him. He still ended up dead at the hands of the men that were haunting him, and now they are coming for Kensi."
"I don't know if this is talk where you tell me not to lose myself, not to do anything stupid, frankly I don't give a damn what kind of talk this is. I will do whatever I have to do to stop them from coming for her. If I have to kill them myself I will, because there is not a person on this planet including you that is going to stop me from doing what it takes to protect my wife and my daughter." Deeks said.
"I understand Mr. Deeks. Granger is waiting up stairs for you and Kensi." Hetty said.
Deeks turned around and walked out of Hetty's office. When he entered the bullpen he found Kensi and Callen back from the firing range.
"Deeks both of you now." Granger called to Kensi and Deeks from the top of the stairs at OSP.
Deeks turned to Kensi, "You ready sweetheart?"
"Absolutely." Kensi replied.
A/N: Thank you again for all the reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter Granger and Nell will set up the operation and Kensi and Deeks will be on their way to start their new mission.